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OF  A 

MISSION  OF  INQUIRY 


THE  JEWS 

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“  He caused  me  to  pass  by  them  round  about ,  and  behold  there  were  very 
many  in  the  open  valley ,  and  lo  !  they  were  very  dry.''  Ezek.  xxxvii,  2. 


PHILADELPHIA : 

PRESBYTERIAN  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION. 


Printed  by 

WM.  S.  MART1EN. 

Stereotyped  by 
S.  DOUGLAS  WYETH, 
No.  7  Fear  St.  Philadelphia. 


PREFACE. 


This  work  was  undertaken  at  the  desire  of  the  Committee 
of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  for 
the  Conversion  of  the  Jews.  The  writers  had  only  one 
object  in  view  during  their  journey,  namely,  to  see  the 
real  condition  and  character  of  God’s  ancient  people,  and 
to  observe  whatever  might  contribute  to  interest  others 
in  their  cause.  Desiring  to  keep  this  single  object  in 
view  in  their  Narrative  also,  they  have  not  recorded 
many  particulars  of  importance  in  regard  to  the  general 
history  of  the  countries  which  they  visited,  except  in  so 
far  as  this  was  likely  to  forward  their  main  design.  The 
same  reason,  however,  has  led  them  to  dwell  somewhat 
minutely  on  the  scenery  of  the  Holy  Land,  and  the  man¬ 
ners  of  its  inhabitants,  because,  any  thing  that  may 
invest  that  land  with  interest,  will  almost  necessarily 
lead  the  reader  to  care  for  the  peculiar  people  who  once 
possessed  it,  and  who  still  claim  it  as  their  own.  It  is 
meant  to  be  a  plain  narrative,  so  that  the  most  unlearned 
reader,  if  only  familiar  with  the  Scriptures,  may  follow 
the  writers  in  their  visit  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  House 
of  Israel. 

We  have  had  specially  in  view  the  people  of  the 
parishes  of  Scotland,  feeling  it  our  duty  and  our  privi¬ 
lege,  as  ministers  of  Christ  in  the  Church  of  Scotland,  to 
promote  the  cause  of  the  Jews  among  our  brethren.  If 


Vi 


PREFACE. 


the  Church  of  Scotland  in  these  perilous  times,  “take 
hold  of  the  skirt  of  the  Jew,”  God  may  remember  her  for 
Zion’s  sake. 

The  work  has  been  long  delayed,  longer  than  was  de¬ 
sirable,  but  this  delay  was  unavoidable.  During  at  least 
twelve  months  after  returning  home,  scarcely  a  week 
passed  wherein  we  did  not  receive  some  call  to  visit  this 
or  that  other  parish  in  order  to  tell  orally  the  things  we 
had  seen  and  heard.  And  even  now,  when  at  length  we 
have  found  time  to  sit  down  and  write  these  records 
of  our  journey,  it  has  been  amidst  the  incessant  demands 
for  parochial  labours,  to  which  every  pastor  is  daily  sub¬ 
jected,  and  which  he  feels  to  be  imperative. 

May  the  God  of  Israel,  for  his  ancient  people’s  sake, 
make  this  work  useful  in  kindling  a  brighter  flame  of 
love  to  the  Jews  in  the  bosom  of  all  who  are  “  the  Lord’s 
remembrancers”  in  Scotland,  and  may  He  grant  “  that 
this  service  which  we  have  for  Jerusalem  may  be  accept¬ 
ed  of  the  saints.” 

ANDREW  A.  BONAR. 

ROBT.  MURRAY  M’CHEYNE. 

May  2 d  1842. 


PREFACE 

TO  THE  THIRD  EDITION. 


It  will  not  diminish  the  interest  of  this  Narrative  to  know, 
that  one  of  those  who  had  so  large  a  share  in  all  that  it 
records  is  now  in  glory.  Four  days  ago,  while  this  edi¬ 
tion  was  passing  through  the  press,  it  pleased  the  Lord 
to  call  Mr.  M’Cheyne  home  to  himself.  At  the  very 
moment  when  we  thought  him  most  needed  in  Scotland, 
and  when  he  himself  was  looking  forward  to  the  honour 
of  bearing  a  testimony  for  the  Crown-rights  of  Christ  in 
the  day  of  our  Church’s  calamity,  he  has  been  taken  to 
his  reward.  It  was  his  meat  to  do  the  will  of  his  Father, 
and  to  finish  his  work.  He  carried  about  with  him  a 
deep  consciousness  of  sin,  and  rested  with  steady  con¬ 
fidence  in  the  righteousness  of  Immanuel.  Those  who 
knew  him  most  loved  him  best ;  and  all  who  knew  him 
at  all  felt  that  the  secret  of  the  Lord  was  with  him. 
During  the  six  short  years  of  his  ministry,  he  was  the 
instrument  of  saving  more  souls  than  many  true  servants 
of  God  have  done  during  half  a  century.  But  as,  in  our 
journey  to  Jerusalem,  he  hastened  before  us  all*  to  get 
a  sight  of  the  city  of  the  Great  King,  so  now  he  has  got 
the  start  of  us  all  in  seeing  the  New  Jerusalem  that  is  to 
come  out  of  heaven  from  God.  O  that  the  Lord  God  of 


•  • 
Vll 


V 


*  Page  125. 


Viii  PREFACE  TO  THE  THIRD  EDITION. 

Elijah  may  cause  his  mantle  to  fall  upon  the  many  sons 
of  the  prophets  who  loved  him  as  their  own  soul !  Some 
of  us  truly  feel,  that  his  removal  has  made  the  blessed 
hope  of  “  the  Coming  of  the  Lord,  and  our  gathering 
together  unto  Him,”  sweeter  than  ever  to  our  weary 
souls.* 

COLLACE, 

March  29,  1843. 

*  [A  deeply  interesting  Memoir  of  this  devoted  young  minister,  writ¬ 
ten  by  his  friend  and  fellow-traveller,  the  Rev.  A.  A  Bonar,  has  been 
published  by  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication.] — Ed.  of  Pres.  B. 
of  Pub 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

FRANCE — ITALY — MALTA — GREECE. 

Origin  of  the  Deputation — Preparation  for  their  Departure — Sail  from 
Dover — Boulogne — Prevalence  of  Popery — Protestants — Jews — Inter* 
view  with  a  remarkable  Jew — Proceed  to  Paris — Pass  through  Mon - 
treuil,  Abbeville,  Beauvais — Paris — Marbceuf  Chapel — Appearance  of 
Paris  on  Sabbath — Inquiries  respecting  Jews — Profligacy  of  Paris — 
Leave  Paris — French  Scenery — Troyes — Chatillon-sur- Seine — Dijon — 
Protestant  Pastor — Jews — Distribution  of  Tracts — Conversation  with 
Popish  Priest — Reach  Chalons  sur  Saone — Steamboat  to  Lyons — Sail 
on  the  Saone — Pass  Tournou,  Macon,  Trevoux — Lyons — M.  Cordes — 
Protestants — Jews — Sail  to  Avignon — Pass  Vienne,  Valence,  Montli- 
mart — Scenery  of  Avignon — Beaucaire — Arles — English  Engineer — 
The  Mestrael  Wind — Mouth  of  the  Rhone — Land  on  an  Island — Its  ap* 
pearance — Distribute  Tracts — Marseilles — Its  Harbour — Population 
— Protestants — Interview  with  Rabbi  of  the  Jews,  .  .  1 — 15 

Embark  for  Leghorn — Hieres — Appearance  of  Italian  Coast — Genoa 
— Aspect  of  the  Town — Galley  Slaves — Streets — Genoese  Females — 
Monks — Popery — Jews — Interview  with  an  elderly  Jew — Information 
as  to  Jews  in  Italy  and  Gibraltar — Leave  for  Leghorn — Leghorn — 
Meet  Fellow-countrymen — Late  Rev.  Mr.  Martin  of  St.  George’s  Church, 
Edinburgh — Visit  to  the  English  Cemetery — Low  State  of  Religion — 
Popery — Sabbath — Appearance  of  the  Town — Visit  to  the  Synagogue 
— Jews — Interview  with  Rabbi  Bolaffi — Jews’  Library  and  School — 
Other  interviews  with  Jews — Jewish  Burying-ground — Chancellor  Uzi- 
elli,  and  account  of  Jewish  Polity — Summoned  before  the  Police,  and 
commanded  to  leave  Tuscany — Means  to  be  used  in  behalf  of  Jews 
in  France  and  Italy — Embark  for  Malta — Pass  Elba — Interview  with 
Passengers — Anchor  at  Civila  Vecchia — Popery — Distant  view  of 
Sicily — Gozo — Arrive  at  Malta — Harbour — Valetta — The  Maltese — 

ix 


I 


X 


CONTENTS. 


State  of  Morals — Jews — Mr.  Schlienz — Rev.  Mr.  Freemantle — Dr 
Clarke — Embark  for  Alexandria — Coast  of  Greece — Cape  Matapan 
The  JEgean  Sea — Islands  of  Spezzia,  Melos,  &c. — Anchor  at  Syra 
Appearance  of  Town — Mr.  Hildner — Church  Missionary  Society — 
Schools — Re-embark — Naxos  and  Paros,  &c  —  Interview  with  four  Jews 
— Crete — Salmone — “  The  Fair  Havens” — Sacred  recollections — Inter¬ 
view  with  a  young  Frenchman — The  Harbour  of  Alexandria,  15 — 46 

CHAPTER  II. 

EGYPT — THE  DESERT — SOUTH  OF  PALESTINE. 

Alexandria — Disembarking — Eastern  Dogs — Pompey’s  Pillar 
Mareotic  Lake— Female  Costumes— Jews— Synagogue  of  the  Frank 
Jews — Preparations  for  Journey  through  the  Desert — A  Turkish  Bath 
—Ride  to  the  Governor’s  Gardens— Mode  of  drawing  Water— Cleopa¬ 
tra’s  Needles — Church  of  Athanasius — Reeds  of  the  Nile — Fulfilment 
of  Prophecy — Departure  for  Rosetta — Remembrance  of  the  General 
Assembly — Appearance  of  the  country — The  Kangfud  of  Isaiah  The 
Mirage — Bay  of  Aboukir—Canofic  branch  of  the  Nile — Rest  at  a  Khan 
— Road  marked  by  Pillars — Bolbotine  branch  of  the  Nile  Rosetta 
—Latin  Convent— Eastern  Marriage— Jews— Franciscan  Monk— The 
Convent  Library — The  Nile — A  Rice-Mill — Bazaar  The  Muezzin- 
Mosques — Public  Procession  at  a  Circumcision— An  Eastern  Plough — 
Ride  by  the  Banks  of  the  Nile — Wretched  state  of  the  Villages  Sea- 
shore__Arab  Dance  and  Song— Living  in  Tents— Lake  Bourlos—  Seben- 
netic  branch  of  the  Nile— A  Fisherman  with  the  ay<piB\ricrrpov — A 
Lodge  in  a  Cucumber  garden— Arab  quarrels— Balteen— Sabbath— A 
Threshing-floor— The  Villagers— The  village  Sheikh— Midnight  jour¬ 
ney — Rest  at  Assouan — Reach  Senana — Pasha’s  Troops — Phatnitic 
branch  of  the  Nile, . 47  65 

Damietta— Vice  Consul— Governor— Eastern  Repasts— Dwelling- 
houses— Customs  at  Dinner — Greeco-Romish  Church— Visit  to  a  Native 
School — Eastern  waste  of  time — Proceed  to  Lake  Menzaleh— Open  boat 
— Bedouin  Sheikh— Villages  on  the  Banks— Mendesian  and  Tanitic 
branch  of  the  Nile— Arab  Quern— Watering  the  Fields— Zoan— Its 
Ruins— Fulfilment  of  Prophecy— Travel  on  Camels— Illustration  of 
Scripture— Journey  in  the  Desert— “  Bringing  down  the  heat  with  the 
shadow  of  a  cloud”— Pelusiac  branch  of  the  Nile— Bedouins,  illustra¬ 
tion  of  Scripture— Accident  to  Dr.  Black— Reach  Gomatter— Sabbath- 
Conversation  with  our  attendants — Ishmael  is  yet  to  be  gathered — 
Shitta-tree — Part  of  the  desert  of  Shur — Talipanes  and  Migdol — The 
Pasha’s  Dromedary  post — Duadahr — Resting  at  Wells — New  appear¬ 
ance  of  the  Desert — Catieh — Kindness  of  the  Postmaster — Graves  of 
Marabouts— Ruins  of  Tel  Faramah— Flocks  of  Sheep  and  Goats— Beer- 


CONTENTS. 


XI 


el-abd — A  Salt  Land — Hills  of  Seir  in  the  distance — Sirbotuan  Lake — 
Abugilbany — Birds — “  Going  down  to  Egypt” — Intense  heat — Rush  to 
the  wells — Disappointment  like  Marah — Site  of  Ostracine — Rhinoco - 
lura.  ...........  65 — 86 

El  Arish — Scarcity  of  Food — Visit  from  the  Governor — Dilatory 
movements — Illustrations  of  Scripture — Flat-roofed  Houses — An  Arab 
Oven — Ancient  Bed  of  a  River — Arab  School — Gateway  of  the  Fort — 
Visit  of  the  Governor — A  Coptic  Christian — Writer’s  Inkhorn — Set 
out  for  the  Lazaretto — Canals  of  Water  in  Gardens — Cross  the  Bed  of 
the  River — Enter  the  Land  of  Israel — Ride  through  the  tribe  of  Simeon 
— Encamp  at  Sheikh  Juide — First  Sabbath  in  Palestine — Sing  the 
Psalms  of  David — Valley  of  Gerar — Fields — Colony  of  Ants — Road  to 
Gaza — “  Places  of  the  Paths” — Raphia — Khanounes — Sirocco — Bazaar 
— Illustrations  of  Scripture — Public  Well — Burying-ground— Bennishail 
— Sycamores — Few  Trees  in  Palestine — Shepherds  with  Flocks — Dair 
— Brook  Besor — Encamp  near  Gaza — Environs  of  Gaza — The  Plague — 
The  Town — Prophecy  remarkably  fulfilled — Samson’s  Hill — Coast  of 
the  Philistines — Arab  Customs — Winnowing  Barley — Eastern  Sheep — 
Enter  an  Olive  Grove — Illustrations  of  Scripture — People  busy  at  Har¬ 
vest-work — Bet-hanoon — Valley  of  Eshcol  and  Sorek — Former  fertility 
— Deiresnait — Desolate  appearance  of  Villages — Flocks  at  noon — 
“  Plant  of  renown”— Leban-hemat— Dhura— Mode  of  Salutation  among 
the  Bedouins— Villages— State  of  Ashkelon—  Home's— Drawing  Water 
— Folds  for  Flocks — Interesting  Fulfilment  of  Prophecy— Tents  of 
Kedar— Key  of  Eastern  Houses — Come  down  upon  the  Plains  of  Judah 
— Sephela — Villages  within  view — Ashdod — Eleutheropolis — Safeen — 
Bethcar — Swarms  of  Flies — Valley  of  Zephathah — Return  of  the  Ark — 
Kasteen — Mesmieh — Threshing-floor— Oxen — Asenibba — Large  Fields 
of  Thistles— Prophecy  fulfilled — Jimso — Ilulda— An  African  playing 
on  the  Pipe— Prophecy  illustrated — Village  of  Latroon— Encamp  in 
Hills  of  Judah— Terraces— Briers  and  Thorns— Prophecy  fulfilled — 
Pass  up  the  Defile — Distant  View  of  Ramla  and  Plain  of  Sharon — 
Kurieh,  or  Kirjathjearim — Vine-terraces — El  Kustul — Valley  of  Elah 
— David  and  Goliath — Kalonie — Approach  to  Jerusalem — Solemnity  of 
the  moment, .  86 — 126 

CHAPTER  III. 

JERUSALEM — HEBRON. 

Enter  the  City — Kindly  received  by  fellow-countrymen — Mr.  Nicolay- 
son — Walk  at  sunrise  outside  of  the  gate — Remove  to  the  Mission- 
house  on  Mount  Zion — View  from  it — Proposed  Hebrew  Church — 
Stone3  from  Anathoth — Prophecy  fulfilled — Plague  in  the  City — Infor¬ 
mation  in  regard  to  the  Jews— Character — Schools— Hope  of  Messiah 


xii 


CONTENTS. 


— Wretched  state — Evening  ride  outside  the  Walls — Tomb  of  David— 
Mount  Zion — Graves  of  Missionaries — Prophecy  fulfilled — Valley  of 
Hinnom — Valley  and  Pools  of  Gihon — Valley  of  Rephaim — Extent  of 
the  Ancient  City — Bezetha — Scopos — First  Sabbath  in  Jerusalem — Ser¬ 
vices  of  the  Sanctuary — Lord  Hamilton — Bedouin  Chief— The  Kangfud 
of  Isaiah — Gazelles — Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre — Site  of  Calvary — 
Mourners  in  the  Streets — Roads — Brook  Kedron — Passing  view  of 
Gethsemane — The  Road  to  Bethany — Mount  of  Olives — Sir  Moses 
Montefiore — View  from  Mount  of  Olives — Nebo  and  Abarim — Scripture 
illustrated — View  of  Moriah,  and  site  of  the  Temple — Prophecy  fulfilled 
Valley  of  Jehoshaphat — An  eccentric  Resident — Illustration  of  Scripture 
— Visit  to  the  Consul — Jews — Statistics  of  the  Jewish  population  of 
Palestine — Treatment  they  receive  from  the  professedly  Christian  sects 
■ — Influence  of  the  British  Consul  among  them — Gihon — Hinnom — 
Hill  of  Evil  Counsel — Valley  of  Rephaim — Views — Valley  of  Hinnom 
— Aceldama — Valley  of  Jehoshaphat — Valley  of  Cheesemongers — Ophel 
— En  Rogel — Harvest  operations — Place  where  Isaiah  was  sawn  asun¬ 
der — Pool  of  Siloam,  and  Fountain — Hymn — Jewish  Graves — Absa¬ 
lom’s  Pillar — Place  where  Jesus  wept  over  the  City — Bethany — Tomb 
of  Lazarus — Scenery — Church  of  the  Ascension — Tombs  of  the  Kings 
— Illustration  of  Scripture — Morning  visit  to  Gethsemane — Associations 
of  the  spot — Pool  of  Bethesda — Jews — Information  regarding  the  Jews 
in  Palestine — Their  Numbers — Their  feelings  toward  their  Land — 
Means  of  Support — Communication  with  their  Brethren — Countries 
whence  they  come — Rabbis — Feelings — Success  of  Missionary  efforts 
— First  attempts  to  settle  a  Mission — First  Conversions — A  Missionary’s 
mode  of  operation — Climate — Expense  of  Living— Evening  Walk — 
Shepherd  going  before  his  Sheep — Illustrations  of  Scripture,  127 — 174 

Excursion  to  Hebron — Well  of  the  Wise  Men — Rachel’s  Sepulchre — 
Bet-Jalah — Solomon's  Pools — Barley  Harvest  in  the  Fields  of  Beth¬ 
lehem — Siplieer — Caleb’s  Daughter — Well  of  Sirah — -Approach  to  He¬ 
bron — Vineyards — Fine  Scenery — Hebron — Hospitality  of  the  Gover¬ 
nor  and  an  old  Jew — Stars — Cave  of  Machpelah — The  Mosque — Re¬ 
mains  of  Solomon’s  works — Spot  where  Abraham  interceded — Carmel 
• — Pool — Jews — Spanish  and  Polish — Interview — Abraham’s  Oak — 
Return  by  Bethlehem — Beth-haccerem — Bethlehem — David’s  Well — 
Latin  Convent — Stable  where  Christ  was  born — Field  of  the  Shep¬ 
herds — Tekoah — Jerusalem  seen  from  this  side — Letters  from  Home — 
Sabbath — Communion  of  the  Lord’s  Supper  in  an  Upper  Room — He¬ 
brew  Service — Castle  of  David — Spina  Christi — Temple  Wall — Rem¬ 
nants — The  Bridge— Place  of  Wailing — A  Jew  praying  there— Syna¬ 
gogues  in  Jerusalem — Literary  Qualifications  of  Missionaries — Fare¬ 
well  visit  to  Bethany — View  from  Mount  of  Olives — Bethphage — 
Bethany — Return  by  Siloam,  .  ...  174 — 197 


CONTENTS. 


xili 


CHAPTER  IV. 

GIBEON — SYCHEM — SAMARIA — CAIIMEL. 

Leave  Jerusalem — Pass  Tomb  of  the  Judges — Naby-Samuel — Ramah 
— Scripture  difficulty  cleared  up — View  of  Country — Prophecy  in  re¬ 
ference  to  Infants  of  Bethlehem — Emmaus — Gibeon — Ajaloun — Beau¬ 
tiful  Scenery — Vineyards — Raphal — Portion  of  Benjamin — Reach  Beer 
— Journey  to  north-east — Bethel — Ruins  at  Bethel — Associations — 
Prophecy  fulfilled — Village — Ain  Yebrud — Geeb — Mount  Ephraim — 
Enter  by  a  Defile  into  a  fertile  plain — Shiloh — Lebonah — Flocks  at  noon 
— Bedouin  Sheikh — Harvest  men — Villages  of  Samaritans — Eastern 
shoulder  of  Mount  Gerizzim — Vale  of  Sychar — Sychar — Beauty  of  the 
Scene — Jewish  Synagogue — Visit  to  Jacob’s  Well — Joseph’s  Tomb — 
Jews  and  Samaritans  in  Sychar — Sight  of  Lepers — The  Bazaar — Con¬ 
versation  with  Jews — Visit  to  the  Samaritan  Synagogue — Enmity  be¬ 
twixt  Jews  and  Samaritans; — Interesting  Jewish  Boy — Meet  with  four 
Jews  who  had  sailed  from  Syra — Set  out  for  Samaria — Road  excellent 
— Approach  to  the  Hill  of  Samaria — Ascend  the  Hill  and  investigate 
the  Ruins — Remarkable  Fulfilment  of  Prophecy— Old  Church — Moun¬ 
tains  of  Samaria, .  198 — 223 

Set  out  again — Ascend  the  ridge — Magnificent  View — Encamp  at 
Sanour — Tribe  of  Manasseh — Village  of  Gabatieh — Harvest  Scenes — 
Reach  Jenin — Plain  of  Esdraelon — Journey  among  Hills — Ramouni — 
Villages— Thorns  and  solitude — Dalee — Illustrations  of  Scripture — 
Portion  of  Issachar — Village  of  Igzim— By  a  Defile  come  down  to  the 
shore — Ruins  on  the  shore — Tortura— Athlete— Mount  Carmel — 
First  impressions— Quarantine— Sabbath— Our  occupations— Asher’s 
Blessing— A  Case  of  Plague— News  of  the  Battle  of  Nezib— Ascend 
Mount  Carmel — Splendid  Views— Elijah’s  Prayer— Prophecies  explain¬ 
ed— Scripture  truths  suggested— Jews  meeting  Sir  Moses  Montefiore — 
Khaifa — Synagogue — Sail  in  open  vessel  for  Bey  rout — Appearance  of 
the  Coast — Pass  Tyre  and  Sidon — Lebanon — Beyrout — American 
Missionaries— Resident  Merchants — Lebanon— Cedars — Inhabitants — 
Hamah — Lady  H.  Stanhope — Ancient  Remains — Syrian  Sky — Jews 
in  Beyrout — Information  from  Mr.  Pieritz  as  to  Stations  for  Jewish 
Missionaries — Tracts  for  Jews — Anecdotes  regarding  Jews — Literal  in¬ 
terpretation  of  Prophecy — Statistics  of  Jewish  population — Their  cha¬ 
racter— A  Missionary’s  Qualifications— Druse  Women — The  Tantour 
“  the  horn”— Key  on  the  Shoulder— Dr.  Black  and  Dr.  Keith  resolve  to 
proceed  to  Smyrna— Mr  Caiman  engaged  to  accompany  Messrs.  M’C. 
.and  B.  to  Galilee— Sabbath  Service — Drs.  Black  and  Keith  sail  for 
Smyrna— Syrian  boys— Dispensation  of  the  Lord’s  Supper,  223  -251 


CONTENTS. 


%iw 


CHAPTER  V. 

SYROPHENICIA - GALILEE. 

Take  leave  of  Ibraim — Road  through  groves  of  pine  and  mulberry — 
Villages  of  Lebanon — A  Khan — Naby-Younes — Servants — Dervish — 
Approach  to  Sidon — Kindness  of  Jews — Conversation — Sidon — State 
of  the  Town — Prophecies — Environs — Ride  along  the  Shore — Sarepta 
— Woman  of  Syrophenicia — Tombs — River  Leontes — Encampment— 
Tyre — Ruins  in  it — Purple  dye — Modern  town — Investigation  of  Pro¬ 
phecies — Cape  Blanco— Jews  and  Jewish  children,  and  Rabbi — Paul’s 
visit — Ancient  Sarcophage — Tribe  of  Asher — Kana — Villages — Wady 
Deeb — Jettar,  probably  Jephthak-el — Rumours  of  Danger — Scenery 
varied — Villages — Kefr-birhom,  ancient  Jewish  Synagogue — Naphlali 
—Gish — Saphet — Jews  in  a  state  of  Alarm — Ruined  state  of  the 
Town — Situation— Markets—  Ishmaelites — Flat  roofs — Story — View  of 
the  Lake  of  Galilee — Scenery — Tabor  and  Hermon — Visit  to  the 
Jews — Worship  enthusiastic  and  fanatical — Visit  to  Marona — Ruins — 
Tombs — Jurmah — Conversation  with  Jews — Sabbath — Jewish  Bury- 
ing-ground — The  Erav — Read  to  our  attendants — Saphet  as  a  Mis¬ 
sionary  Station  most  desirable — Set  out — Wady  Hukkok — Jotapata — 
Prophecy  regarding  Naphtali  and  Zebulun  explained — Plain  of  Genne- 
sareth — Capernaum — Chorazin — Bethsaida — Magdala — Jesus  loved  this 
sea-shore .  252 — 289 

Tiberias — Town— Jews — Jewish  Doctor — Sephardim  Synagogue — 
Jewish  children— Libraries— School  of  Tiberias  gone — Propose  to  sail 
across  to  the  Country  of  the  Gadarenes— Evening  meal ;  fish  from  the 
Lake — Scriptural  Associations— Visit  of  the  Jewish  Doctor— Storms 
on  the  Lake — Fisherman  using  the  ayfy'^riaTpov — Hot  Baths  of 
Tiberias — Petrifactions — Tarichcea — Strike  into  the  Country  again 
— Plain  of  Hutlin — Gazelles — Thistles — Mount  of  Beatitudes — Plain 
of  Esdraelon — View  of  Tabor — Lubiah — Approach  to  Tabor — Its  re¬ 
markable  appearance — Ascend  by  an  entangled  path — Difficulties — 
Reach  the  top — Magnificent  scene — Descent — Dangers  providentially 
escaped — View  next  morning  at  the  foot — Endor  and  Nain — Ishmael’s 
sons — Journey  to  Nazareth — Nazareth — Town — Situation — Popish 
traditions — Mount  of  Precipitation — Fountain — Administration  of  jus¬ 
tice — Cana  of  Galilee—  Sepphourieh — Agricultural  implements — 
Surmises  of  Danger — Pass  of  Abilene — Servant  seized — Meet  Bedouins, 
but  pass  by — Zebidun — View  of  Carmel — Plain  of  Acre — Acre — Latin 
Convent — Learn  our  Providential  escape — Responsive  singing — Visit 
to  the  Aga — Jews  of  Acre — Old  Jew  at  Prayer — Villages  on  the  road 
— Zeeb  or  Achzib — Nakoura — Encamp — Shore — Hymn — Road  to  Tyre 
— Solomon’s  Pools — Ras-el-Ain — The  hill  Marshuk — Sarepta — Ga- 
zelles — Cairns — Moslem  groves — Moslem  ladies — Mulberry  gardens 


CONTENTS 


XV 


•— Beyrout — Sabbath — Body  carried  out  on  a  bier — Mr.  M'Cheyne’s 
illness— Dr.  Gertsmann— Sail  for  Smyrna— General  Remarks  on  Pales¬ 
tine  as  a  Missionary  Field, .  289 — 323 

CHAPTER  VI. 

SMYRNA  AND  CONSTANTINOPLE. 

Island  of  Cyprus — Associations — Rhodes — Coast  of  Caria — Cnidos 
— Coos — An  English  Frigate — Islands  of  Patmos — Sa?nos — Scio — 
Smyrna — Appearance  of  Gulf — Mr.  M'Cheyne’s  illness — Proceed  to 
Bouja — Kindness  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lewis — Sabbath  at  Bouja — Sabbath 
in  Smyrna — Bouja — Customs  of  the  Country — Grasshoppers — Infor¬ 
mation  regarding  the  Jews — Anecdote  of  a  Jewess  at  Ancona — Karaites 
in  Crimea — Insults  to  which  Jews  are  exposed — Jewish  Missionary — 
Mr.  Cohen — Visit  to  the  Synagogues — Need  of  Schools — Saloniki — Mr. 
Caiman’s  Visit  to  the  Jews— Visit  to  the  Schools— Smyrna  as  a  Mis¬ 
sionary  Station — Advantages  and  obstacles — Notice  of  the  Seven 
Churches — State  of  Asia  Minor— Environs  of  Smyrna — River  Meles — 
Turkish  Burying-ground — A  Street  in  Smyrna — Mr.  Riggs — Greek  Cus¬ 
toms — Missionary  Prospects — V  isit  to  the  Stadium— Polycarp’s  Grave 
— Incidents  by  the  way — Greek  and  Armenian  Church — Sail  from 
Smyrna— Company  on  board — Mytilin — Cape  Lectum — Assos — Tere¬ 
dos— English  and  French  Fleet— Troas—Sigeum— Ancient  Troy— Hel¬ 
lespont — Sestos  and  Abydos — Anecdote  of  a  Jew — Sea  of  Marmora — 
Castle  ofRomanioand  Natolia — Constantinople  from  the  Sea — Gold¬ 
en  Horn — Kindness  of  American  Missionaries— Visit  the  English  Consul 
—Appearance  of  the  streets— Visit  from  Mr.  Farman— Jewish  statistics 
and  state— Sail  up  the  Bosphorus— Scenery— Ortakoy—Beyukdere— 
Armenian  Converts— Objects  in  the  town— Mosques— Ancient  Remains 
—The  Howling  Dervishes— Chalcedon — Jewish  quarter — Schools — 
Synagogues— Visit  to  the  Karaites— A  Karaite  Sermon— Karaite  books 
—View  of  Constantinople  as  a  Missionary  Station,  .  .  324—365 

CHAPTER  VIL 

WALLACHIA  AND  MOLDAVIA. 

Sail  for  the  Danube— Fellow-passengers— Entrance  to  the  Black 
gea — Symplegades — Ancient  Fables— The  Balkan—  Varna— Land  for  a 
few  hours — West  Coast  of  the  Black  Sea— Ovid’s  banishment — Mouth 
of  the  Danube— Sail  up  the  Danube — Tidtsha — Conversation— Quaran¬ 
tine  at  Galatz— English  Vice-Consul — Ancient  Dacia — Manners  and 
Customs— Notice  of  the  Province— Boyards— Zingans  or  Gypsies—  Ga¬ 
latz — Visit  it — Inhabitants— The  Jews — Their  state — Ride  to  Ibraila — 


xvi 


CONTENTS. 


Appearance  of  the  Country — Post-carts — Cross  on  Greek  Churches — 
Wallachian  Dress — Conversation  with  Jews — Set  out  in  a  Brashovanca 
— Mode  of  travelling — Peasants — Remnants  of  the  Latin  Language — 
Crosses— Wells — Only  two  Villages — Bucharest — Jews  at  their  devo¬ 
tions — A  Khan — Consul — His  attention — State  of  Wallachia — Immo¬ 
rality  of  all  classes— New  Year  among  the  Jews— Ceremonies — Support 
of  a  Missionary— Rabbi  Bibas— Fete  of  the  Prince— Superstitions— 
Second  Interview  with  Rabbi  Bibas — Jewish  Convert — Accident  to  our 
vehicle — Buseo — Foxshany — Jews — Day  of  Repentance — Scenery  on 
the  way  to  Birlat — Birlat— Greek  Churches — Jews — Conversation 
with  them — Oxen  and  their  yoke — Khan — Waslui — The  Cipporah — 
Ceremonies — Jassy — Day  of  Atonement — Visit  to  Synagogues  at  even¬ 
ing— Deep  devotion — Jewish  Statistics — Their  state — Evening  of  the 
Day  of  Atonement— State  of  the  Country— Anecdote — Treatment  of 
the  Jews— Jewish  School — A  Jew  of  the  New  School— Jewish  Marriage 
— Conversation  with  Jews — Ride  to  Botouchany — Jews — Teshawitz — 
Jewish  Innkeeper  and  family — Quarantine — General  View  of  the  two 
Provinces  as  a  sphere  of  Missionary  labour,  .  .  .  366 — 426 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

AUSTRIAN  POLAND. 

Quarantine  at  Bossanze — Conversation  with  an  Hungarian— Leave 
Quarantine — Soutchava — Its  inhabitants — Jews,  interview  with — Sce¬ 
nery — Town  of  Seret — Conversation  with  the  Jews — Czernowitz — In¬ 
teresting  conversation  with  Jews — Their  condition — Cross  the  Pruth — 
Gertsman — Appearance  of  Country — Zalesky — Baron  Brownowitsh — 
Number  of  Jews— Jaglinsky— Sabbath— Native  Churches  and  Con¬ 
gregations — Appearance  of  Peasantiy — Conversation  with  Jews — Cere¬ 
mony  of  the  Joy  of  the  Law — Interview  with  Rabbi — Pass  Zadcow — 
Copockinsky — Scenery  on  Road  to  Trembowla—  Pass  Gulonitsky — 
Arrive  at  Tarnapol — The  Synagogue  of  New  School — Chasidim  and 
Rabbinical  Jews — Procession,  or  Last  Day  of  the  Feast — Dance  in 
Honour  of  the  Law— Second  visit  to  Jews  of  New  School — Their  opin¬ 
ions— Visit  to  Rabbi  Rapaport— Conversation  with  a  young  Jew — 
Jewish  Burying-Place — The  Gymnasium — Leave  Tarnapol— Appear¬ 
ance  of  Country — Pass  Zalosc — Seretsky — Potkamin — Jews — Interview 
with  old  man — Brody — Jewish  Hawkers — Jewish  appearance  of 
Brody — Jewish  Population — Visit  Synagogues  and  Hospital — Burying- 
Ground — Curious  Monuments  there — Tephillim,  Mezuzah,  and  Tal- 
lith — Summoned  before  the  Police,  and  examined — Interview  with 
young  Jew — Detained,  and  all  Books  taken,  and  sent  to  Cracow — Leave 
Brody—  Country — Rest  at  Sassow — Description  of  a  Polish  Hartsmi — 
Pass  Zloozow — Popish  Idolatry — Jews — Reach  Zopka — Sabbath-  there 
— Mr.  M‘Cheyn  attacked  by  Shepherds — Jewish  respect  to  a  great 


CONTENTS. 


XVII 


Rabbi — Proceed  to  Lemberg — Poor  Village  of  Veniky — Population — 
Town  and  Environs — Jewish  Quarter — Synagogues— Funeral  of  old 
Jewess — Hospital — The  Juggs— Proceed  to  Cracow — Villages — Popish 
Idolatry — A  Christian  Beggar — More  Villages,  and  Images  of  Saints — 
Jewish  Khan — Description  of  Pilsno — Tarnom — Bochnia — Beggars — 
Superstitious  Conscientiousness  in  Jewish  Boy — Vieliczka  and  Podgorze 
— Cracow — Minutely  examined — Mr.  Otremba — Appearance  of  Cra¬ 
cow — Find  out  Rev.  Mr.  Hiscock — Mr.  FI.’s  labours — Sabbath  at  Lu¬ 
theran  Church — Lord’s  Supper  in  Missionary’s  Room — Neology  of 
Protestants  in  Cracow — Depravity  of  the  Poles — Strength  of  Popery — 
University — Population — Number  of  Jews — Mode  of  getting  Baptism— 
Mr.  Hiscock’s  mode  of  dealing  with  Jews — Queen  Esther’s  Pool — Im¬ 
portance  of  Cracow  as  a  Missionary  Station,  .  .  .  427 — 486 

^  CHAPTER  IX. 

PRUSSIA  AND  HAMBURGH. 

Set  out  in  Prussian  Schnell-post  for  Breslau — Appearance  of  Country 
— Zarnow — Enter  Silesia — Still  meet  Crosses—  Berin — Opeln — F uneral 
Service  at  Church-yard — Brieg — Ohlau — Breslau — Morning  visitors 
— Buildings  in  the  town — Visit  to  a  Prussian  School — The  University 
— Dr.  Neumann — Roman  Catholics — Lutherans — Jews — A  Jew  from 
Kempfen — Synagogue — Start  for  Posen — Appearance  of  Country — The 
Expatriated  Tyrolese — Posen — Mr.  Bellson — The  town — State  of  the 
People — Jews — Missionary  Schools — Jews  in  the  Grand  Dutchy — Pa¬ 
rents  allow  Children  to  attend — Effect  of  Baptism  of  two  of  the  Scholars 
— Sabbath — Sermon  in  the  Garrison  Church — Missionary  Schools  in 
the  Dutchy;  mode  of  Conducting — Account  of  the  Conversion  of  a 
young  Jewess — Meeting  with  School  Committee — Mode  of  Licensing 
Prussian  Teachers — Fortress  of  Posen — Jewish  School  at  Storchnest — 
Lissa — Fraustadt — Mr.  Hartman — Mr.  Bellson’s  Account  of  Jews  in 
Holland — Schlichtingslieim — Examine  the  School — Anecdote  of  Child¬ 
ren — Anecdote  of  Jews— Glogau — Importance  of  Prussian  Poland  as  a 
Field  of  Missionary  Labour — Evening  with  Mr.  Klopsch — Acquaintance 
with  Scottish  Divines,  and  Scottish  Church — Leave  Glogau — Vil¬ 
lages,  .  .  •  .  481 — 502 

Berlin— Mr.  Becker— “  Society  for  Poor  Proselytes”— Mr.  Kuntze 
and  Mr.  Focke — Jewish  Prisoners — Dr.  Neander — State  of  Berlin 
— Few  Christians  interested  in  Jews — New  School  Synagogue — Mu¬ 
seum — Eisner — Old  Church  of  Nicolai — Sabbath  in  Berlin — Service  in 
different  churches — Sabbath  desecration  at  Berlin — Jewish  School  of 
New  Synagogue — Bohemian  Church — Lecture  by  Dr.  Neander — State 
of  University — Visit  to  Gossner — Notice  of  Martin  Boos — Evening 
with  Mr.  Kuntze — Sabbath  Schools  not  allowed  in  Prussia— Normal 

2  * 


xvm 


CONTENTS. 


Seminary  and  Missionary  institution— Call  on  Dr.  Robinson — Set  out 
for  Hamburgh — Hamburgh — Environs — State  of  Religion — English 
Residents — Mr.  Moritz — His  labours  in  Russia,  and  importance  of 
Russia  as  a  Missionary  Field — Denmark — Sweden — Baden — Bavaria — 
Berlin— Wurtemberg — Difficulties  of  Hamburgh  as  a  Missionary  Field 
— Synagogue — New  School — Walk  to  Altona — Jews  there — Revivals 
at  Home — Sabbath — Leave  Hamburgh  for  London — Arrive  in  Scotland 
— Reception — Notice  of  Dr.  Black  and  Dr.  Keith — Resolution  of  the 
General  Assembly, . .  502 — 520 


APPENDIX. 


No.  I. — Programme  of  Instruction  in  the  Israelitish  University  of 
Leghorn,  in  the  year  1839,  .  521 — 523 


II. — Value  of  the  Coins  mentioned  in  this  work,  -  -  524 

III.  — History  of  Rabbi  Simeon  Ben  Yochai,  -  524 

IV.  — Jews  of  Corfu, . .  525 

V.  — Jews  of  Damascus, .  526 

VI.  — Jews  of  Bagdad, .  527 


VII. — Striking  similarity  in  the  main  features  of  Judaism  and 

Popeiy,  .......  530 — 532 

533—542 


Passages  of  Scripture  referred  to,  or  illustrated, 
Index, . 


543 


LIST 


OF 


MAPS  AND  ENGRAVINGS. 


Page 

Map  of  the  Route. 

A  Truncated  Pillar,  .... 

• 

• 

• 

29 

Maltese  Lady  with  the  Onella,  . 

• 

• 

• 

36 

Eastern  Mode  of  carrying  Children, 

• 

• 

0 

48 

Eastern  Plough,  .... 

• 

• 

• 

60 

Governor  of  Damietta,  .  .  . 

• 

• 

• 

• 

67 

Arab  Consul,  .... 

67 

Arab  Quern  or  Handmill,  .  . 

• 

• 

• 

• 

71 

Egyptian  with  Bucket,  .  . 

• 

• 

• 

• 

72 

Zoan,  •••••• 

• 

• 

• 

0 

73 

Broken  Sphinx,  .... 

75 

Ancient  Jar,  .  .  .  . 

• 

• 

• 

0 

75 

Map  of  Palestine . 

89 

An  Arab  Oven,  .... 

• 

• 

• 

0 

90 

A  Writer’s  Inkhorn,  .  .  . 

• 

• 

• 

• 

92 

Narrow  Paths, . 

• 

• 

• 

• 

96 

Village  of  Bennishail,  .  ,  . 

• 

• 

• 

• 

98 

Sycamore  Tree,  .... 

• 

• 

• 

• 

99 

Common  Jug  used  at  Wells  in  Palestine, 

• 

• 

• 

111 

Bedouin  Tent,  ... 

• 

t 

• 

• 

113 

Wooden  Fork,  .... 

116 

Terraced  Hills,  .... 

• 

• 

• 

• 

123 

Plan  of  Jerusalem,  .  .  . 

• 

• 

• 

• 

127 

Frank  Mountain,  .... 

• 

• 

0 

150 

Bethany, . 

158 

Gibeon,  •••••• 

• 

• 

• 

0 

201 

Samaria,  ..... 

219 

The  Tantour,  ..... 

• 

• 

• 

• 

248 

Anklet,  ..... 

254 

xix 


XX 


LIST  OF  ENGRAVINGS. 


Olive-Press,  .... 

•  •  •  • 

Page 
.  269 

Ancient  Synagogue, 

• :  •  •  e 

270 

Bedouin,  ..... 

•  •  •  1 

.  304 

Agricultural  Implements, 

.  *  *  *  e 

308 

Wallachian  Post-cart, 

•  •  «  « 

.  376 

Ornamented  Cross,  .  . 

9  0  0  0 

377 

Wallachian  Postillion,  .  . 

•  •  «  * 

.  381 

Stone  Cross  in  Wallachia, 

•  •  •  • 

383 

Jew  with  Fur-cap, 

Wallachian  Peasant, 

4  •  «  # 

.  389 

•  •  0  r 

397 

Village  of  Buseo, 

•  •  «  i 

.  398 

Yoke  for  Oxen, 

•  •  •  • 

403 

Rabbi  reading  Prayers, 

•  •  ^  • 

.  408 

A  Veiled  Bride, 

0000 

417 

Rabbi  Dance  and  Procession  of  the  Law,  .  . 

.  438 

Jewish  Boy  with  Velvet  Cap, 

0000 

451 

Crown  over  a  Grave,  .  . 

0  0  0  0 

.  454 

Cup  over  a  Levite’s  Grave,  . 

0  0  0  0 

455 

Ship  on  her  way  to  Palestine,  . 

0  0 

.  455 

A  Polish  Hartsmi, 

•  099 

460 

Polish  Woman  carrying  Water, 

•  *  •  • 

.  463 

Village  of  Schlichtingsheim, 

•  •  •  • 

496 

FRANCE — ITALY — MALTA — GREECE. 

“Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  I  am  jealous  for  Jerusalem  and  for 
Zion  with  a  great  jealousy,  and  I  am  very  sore  displeased  with  the 
heathen  that  are  at  ease.” — Zech.  i.  14,  15. 

The  subject  of  the  Jews  had  but  recently  begun  to 
awaken  attention  among  the  faithful  servants  of  God  in 
the  Church  of  Scotland.  The  plan  of  sending  a  Depu¬ 
tation  to  Palestine  and  other  countries,  to  visit  and 
inquire  after  the  scattered  Jews,  was  suggested  by  a 
series  of  striking  providences  in  the  case  of  some  of  the 
individuals  concerned.  The  Rev.  Robert  S.  Candlish, 
D.  D.,  Minister  of  St.  George’s,  Edinburgh,  saw  these 
providences,  and  seized  on  the  idea.  On  the  part  of  our 
Church,  “the  thing  was  done  suddenly;”  but  it  soon 
became  evident  that  “God  had  prepared  the  people.”* 
The  Committee  of  our  General  Assembly,  appointed  to 
consider  what  might  be  done  in  the  way  of  setting  on 
foot  Missionary  operations  among  the  Jews,  were  led 
unanimously  to  adopt  this  plan  after  prayerful  and  anx¬ 
ious  deliberation.  Our  own  anticipations  of  the  result 
of  our  inquiries  might  be  described  by  a  reference  to 
Nehemiah.f  We  thought  we  could  see  that,  if  the  Lord 
brought  us  home  in  safety,  many  people  would  ask  us 
“  concerning  the  Jews  that  had  escaped  and  were  left  of 
the  captivity,  and  concerning  Jerusalem ;”  and  that  our 
Report  might  lead  not  a  few  to  “  weep,  and  mourn,  and 
fast,  and  pray,  before  the  God  of  heaven,”  for  Israel. 
We  have  good  reason  to  believe  that  this  has  been  the 
effect.  In  Scotland,  at  least,  many  more  “  watchmen 
have  been  set  upon  the  walls  of  Jerusalem,”!  men  of 
Nehemiah’s  spirit,  who  keep  their  eye  upon  its  ruins, 
favouring  its  very  dust,  and  who  “  will  never  hold  their 


*  2  Chron.  xxix,  36. 


t  Neh.  i.  2,  4. 


t  Isa.  lxii.  6,  7. 


2 


DEPARTURE. 


peace,  day  nor  night,  till  the  Lord  make  Jerusalem  a 
praise  in  the  earth.” 

It  was  a  token  for  good  at  the  very  outset,  that  Dr. 
Black,  Professor  of  Divinity  in  the  Marischal  College, 
Aberdeen,  and  Dr.  Keith,  Minister  of  St.  Cyrus,  whose 
writings  on  the  evidence  from  fulfilled  prophecy  have 
been  so  extensively  read  and  blessed,  were  willing'  to 
give  themselves  to  this  work,  along  with  two  younger 
brethren,  Rev.  R.  M.  M‘Cheyne,  Minister  of  St.  Peter’s, 
Dundee,  and  Rev.  Andrew  A.  Bonar,  Assistant  Minister 
of  Collace,  Perthshire.  Mr.  Robert  Wodrow,  an  Elder 
of  our  Church,  whose  whole  heart  had  yearned  over 
Israel  for  many  a  year,  was  also  appointed  by  the  Com¬ 
mittee,  but  ill  health  compelled  him  reluctantly  to  decline. 
Being  all  of  one  mind  in  regard  to  Israel,  and  eager  to 
seek  their  good,  a  few  weeks  sufficed  to  have  every  pre¬ 
paration  completed.  Those  of  us  who  had  Parishes  to 
leave  behind,  felt  that,  in  a  case  like  this,  we  might  act 
as  did  the  shepherds  at  Bethlehem,  leaving  our  flocks  for 
a  season  under  the  care  of  the  Shepherd  of  Israel,  whose 
long  lost  sheep  we  were  now  going  to  seek.  Nor  have 
we  had  any  cause  to  regret  our  confidence,  and  one  at 
least  of  our  number  found  this  anticipation  of  the  Good 
Shepherd’s  care  more  than  realized  on  his  return. 

As  we  went  on  our  way  through  Glasgow,  Greenock, 
and  Liverpool,  the  members  of  our  Church  commended 
us  to  the  Lord.  On  our  arrival  in  London,  the  office¬ 
bearers  and  members  of  the  London  Jewish  Society,  and 
many  other  Christian  friends  in  the  city,  showed  us  no 
small  kindness.  The  Religious  Tract  Society  furnished 
us  with  their  publications  in  various  languages.  What 
we  saw  of  the  Jews  there,  and  of  the  operations  of  the 
London  Society  among  them,  was  very  useful  to  us. 
Provided  with  Lord  Palmerston’s  passport,  and  letters  to 
her  Majesty’s  foreign  Consuls,  through  the  kindness  of 
Sir  George  Grey  and  Lord  Ashley,  as  well  as  with  let¬ 
ters  to  friends  and  merchants  in  the  various  countries 
we  expected  to  visit,  we  were  commended  to  the  Lord 
in  Regent  Square  Church  the  night  before  we  set  out. 
Many  prayers  also  followed  us,  and  the  prayers  of  our 
brethren  have  not  been  in  vain. 

We  sailed  from  Dover  on  the  morning  of  12th  April, 
1839.  Soon  its  white  cliffs — its  chalky  hills — were  left 
behind,  and  after  three  hours’  sail  over  a  boisterous  sea 


BOULOGNE — POPERY — PROTESTANTS. 


3 


we  landed  in  Boulogne.  We  felt,  as  the  shores  of  Albion 
faded  from  our  view,  that  we  needed,  in  our  circum¬ 
stances,  the  faith  of  Abraham,  when  it  was  said  to  him, 
“  Get  thee  unto  a  land  that  I  will  shew  thee *  for  we 
knew  not  what  was  to  be  the  result  of  our  journeying 
among  the  seed  of  Israel. 

A  pillar  to  the  memory  of  Napoleon,  upon  a  height  near 
the  shore,  attracts  the  eye  in  approaching  the  harbour  of 
Boulogne.  No  sooner  had  we  landed,  than  the  demand 
for  our  passports,  the  pacing  of  the  gens  d'armes  along 
the  shore,  and  the  general  aspect  of  the  people,  reminded 
us  that  we  were  in  a  less  favoured  land  than  we  had  left. 
We  wished  to  press  on  to  Paris  that  night,  as  we  were 
afraid  of  not  reaching  Marseilles  before  the  21st,  the  day 
when  the  Alexandrian  steamer  was  to  sail,  but  we  found 
that  there  was  no  diligence  till  next  morning.  In  this 
there  was  a  kind  design  of  Providence,  intended  both  to 
encourage  and  teach  us,  as  we  found  before  the  evening 
had  past. 

Boulogne  is  said  to  contain  25,000  inhabitants,  of  whom 
5000  are  English  visitors.  The  Leanne,  a  small  stream, 
flows  through  it.  Popery  is  strong  here,  and  to  meet 
with  so  many  ensigns  of  the  “  Man  of  Sin”  on  our  first 
arrival,  did  not  make  France  the  more  agreeable  to  us. 
In  an  elegant  recess  of  the  Cathedral,  which  is  rebuilding 
in  a  splendid  style,  stands  a  statue  of  the  Madonna  and 
her  Child,  with  the  inscription,  “  Mater  patrona  singu¬ 
lars  ;”  the  Son  of  God  thrown  into  the  shade,  and  the 
Virgin  declared  to  be  their  “  special  Patroness.”  On  the 
wall  and  on  the  roof  is  delineated  the  supposed  miracu¬ 
lous  cross  seen  in  the  air  at  Poictiers  in  1 827.  In  order 
to  raise  the  sum  required  for  rebuilding  this  cathedral, 
the  expedient  was  adopted  of  levying  an  additional  sou 
on  every  chair  used  in  the  churches  of  the  town.  A  ship 
close  by  intimates  that  the  Virgin  Mary  is  patroness  of 
seamen ;  and  outside  of  the  town,  on  a  hill,  stands  a  very 
large  cross,  with  a  full-length  figure  of  the  Saviour,  erect¬ 
ed  by  some  fishermen  who  had  narrowly  escaped  ship¬ 
wreck.  We  learned  that  the  sailors’  wives  often  come 
from  the  town  to  this  cross  to  pray  for  their  absent  hus¬ 
bands. 

In  respect  to  education,  the  children  of  the  town  are 
under  the  special  care  of  the  priests,  and  there  is  a  col¬ 
lege  where  300  students  receive  instruction. 

The  English  Protestants  here  are  much  divided  among 

*  Gen.  xii.  1. 


4 


BOULOGNE — JEWS. 


themselves,  and  true  religion  does  not  seem  to  be  m  a 
healthy  state ;  but  we  had  not  time  to  ascertain  parti¬ 
culars  regarding  any  native  Protestants.  In  walking 
through  the  town,  we  began  to  notice  the  common 
continental  fashion  of  hanging  lamps  over  the  middle 
of  the  street  by  ropes  stretching  from  side  to  side. 
The  old  wall  forms  now  a  part  of  the  fort,  and  the 
tower  of  the  town-house  is  used  for  alarms  in  case  of 
fire.  There  is  an  extensive  view  from  the  heights  above 
the  town. 

It  was  not  till  evening  that  we  were  able  to  ascertain 
any  facts  regarding  the  Jews  here.  We  had  been  told 
that  two  Jews  had  lately  come  from  Dover,  who  resided 
near  our  hotel,  but  that  they  were  men  of  the  world 
rather  than  devout  Israelites.  In  the  evening,  however, 
we  were  visited  by  a  very  interesting  Jew,  a  person  of 
education  and  agreeable  manners,  who  spoke  English 
fluently.  He  told  us  his  history. — Originally  possessed 
of  a  small  fortune,  he  had  exhausted  it  in  travelling  for 
the  sake  of  his  brethren,  having  gone  to  North  America, 
to  investigate  the  question  whether  or  not  the  Indians 
there  are  really  the  descendants  of  the  ten  tribes.  He 
had  lived  a  year  among  the  Winebagoes  and  Micmacs, 
learned  the  Cherokee  and  Oneida  languages,  conformed 
to  their  manners,  often  living  almost  naked,  all  in  order 
to  ascertain  that  question,  which  he  did  not  hesitate  to 
decide  in  the  negative.  He  was  now  spending  his  time 
in  retirement,  with  the  view  of  being  able  to  recruit  his 
resources,  so  as  to  undertake  new  journeys  among  his 
brethren  in  other  parts,  and  especially  in  Palestine. 
The  circumstance  of  our  being  on  our  way  to  Palestine 
had  chiefly  induced  him  to  visit  us.  In  the  course  of 
conversation,  we  stated  the  feeling  of  love  to  Israel 
which  had  led  us  to  go  forth  on  this  journey ;  and  Dr. 
Keith,  with  great  fervour,  pictured  the  outcast  state  of 
Israel,  and  how  plainly  it  seemed  to  be  on  account  of 
some  sin  lying  at  their  door,  urging  him  to  consider 
what  the  sin  could  be.  In  reply,  the  Jew  spoke  of  God’s 
general  love  and  mercy;  and  when  we  in  return  exhibited 
the  way  of  pardon  and  acceptance,  he  became  much 
affected, — “chiefly,”  he  said,  “because  we  manifested 
such  interest  in  him,  and  such  kindness.”  He  added, 
‘he  wished  there  were  more  of  the  Church  of  Scotland’s 
Missionaries and  then  immediately  explained  himself, 

“  that  it  was  only  in  one  sense  he  could  express  such  a 
wish,  for  he  could  not  desire  our  success  in  converting 


JEWS  AT  BOULOGNE — ROAD  TO  PARIS.  5 

his  brethren —but  if  any  should  accomplish  this,  it 
would  be  in  the  way  of  kindness.”  He  had  been  long 
seeking  the  truth,  and  thought  he  was  still  doing  so,  but 
was  not  convinced  that  it  lay  with  us.  He  argued  that 
the  Jews  had  got  their  laws  “/or  ever but  was  silent 
when  we  pointed  to  the  new  covenant  promised  in  Jere¬ 
miah.*  In  speaking  of  Jesus ,  he  made  some  interesting 
admissions.  “  The  character  and  doings  of  Jesus  Christ 
were  most  wonderful,  and  the  success  of  Christianity 
in  the  world  was  the  doing  of  God,  in  order  to  alleviate 
the  misery  of  men ;  for  had  Christianity  not  existed, 
he  shuddered  to  think  what  might  have  been  the  state 
of  nations.”  When  pressed  with  the  question,  “  Would 
Jesus,  so  excellent  a  character  as  he  admitted  him  to  be, 
declare  himself  Son  of  God,  if  he  were  not  really  so  1” 
he  was  again  silent,  and  seemed  confused.  He  thought 
that  God  may  possibly  have  prospered  Christianity  for 
the  sake  of  the  J ews ;  for  true  Christianity  had  never 
persecuted  them.  He  had  heard  of  Dr.  Keith’s  work  on 
Prophecy,— expressed  delight  at  meeting  with  the  au¬ 
thor,— and  on  being  presented  with  the  Doctor’s  last 
work  on  the  Evidences,  requested  him  to  write  his  name 
upon  it.  When  presented  with  a  Hebrew  New  Testa¬ 
ment,  on  which  we  had  written  that  we  would  often  pray 
that  he  might  be  brought  to  light  and  peace,  he  shewed 
much  emotion.  Once  or  twice,  after  rising  to  go  away, 
he  resumed  his  discourse.  On  finally  taking  leave,  which 
he  did  with  tears  running  down  his  face,  he  said  with 
great  emphasis,  “If  you  wish  to  gain  a  Jew,  treat  him  as 
a  brother .”  From  him  we  learned  that  there  were  only 
eight  families  of  Jews  here,  and  that  the  children  of  one 
of  these  attend  a  Christian  school. 

This  being  the  first  night  of  our  inquiries  after  the 
scattered  sheep  in  a  foreign  land,  we  could  not  but  feel 
peculiar  encouragement  from  this  interview.  It  seemed 
as  if  the  Lord  was  in  haste  to  give  us  a  token  of  his 
presence. 

(April  13.)  Next  daj^-  at  ten  o’clock  we  started  for 
Paris,  a  distance  of  140  miles,  in  the  diligence,  a  cum¬ 
brous,  heavy  wagon,  enormously  loaded  with  passen¬ 
gers  and  luggage,  and  boxes  of  treasure — postillions 
cracking  their  whips  most  vigorously.  Beyond  the 
town,  we  found  a  peaceful  scene,  the  river  Leanne 
flowing  gently  through  the  vale.  The  hedges  were 
sprouting,  and  gardens  farther  advanced  than  in  Eng- 

*  Jer.  xxxi.  33. 

3 


6  MONTREUIL — ABBEVILLE — BEAUVAIS. 

land.  Part  of  the  road  was  lined  with  willow  trees,  cut 
across,  so  that  they  looked  like  columns,  the  branches 
having  been  stripped  off  for  basket-making.  From  time 
to  time,  in  the  fields  we  saw  the  plough  drawn  by  four 
horses,  and  moving  on  wheels.  The  sight  of  many  re¬ 
tired,  beautiful  villages  surrounded  by  rich  fields  often 
called  forth  the  prayer,  “Thy  kingdom  come”— when 
these  spots  shall  all  be  seats  of  holiness.  The  cross  is 
here  a  never-failing  object  in  the  churches  and  church¬ 
yards,  and  occasionally  by  the  way-side.  Many  people 
were  returning  from  a  neighbouring  market,  and  women 
riding  on  donkeys  and  ponies. 

We  passed  through  Montreuil,  an  old  town,  defended 
by  a  wall  and  fort,  which  again  are  surrounded  by  a 
tnoat,  with  a  considerable  extent  of  marshy  ground  in 
the  vicinity.  Several  times  as  the  diligence  moved  slowly 
up  a  hill,  or  cautiously  descended,  children  from  the  villa¬ 
ges  came  round  with  bouquets  of  flowers,  which  they 
threw  into  the  vehicle,  chanting  at  the  same  time  very 
sweetly  in  their  native  patois. 

We  next  passed  through  Abbeville ,  with  its  fortified 
entrance.  It  has  a  fine  old  Cathedral,  and  the  houses 
are  built  in  an  old  fantastic  style.  Here  we  had  our  first 
specimen  of  a  Table  d’hote ,  with  the  music  of  a  company 
of  harpers  to  entertain  us. 

About  two  in  the  morning  (Sabbath),  the  diligence 
arrived  at  Beauvais ,  where  we  were  delayed  for  some 
hours.  Our  information  had  led  us  to  expect  that 
we  should  have  been  in  Paris  before  Sabbath  morning 
broke,  and  we  felt  this  violation  of  the  Holy  Day  very 
painfully.  As  morning  advanced,  we  saw  the  people 
of  the  villages  going  forth  to  labour  just  as  on  other 
days — ploughmen  in  the  fields,  women  at  their  cottage- 
doors,  children  at  play.  We  soon  found  that  buying 
and  selling,  and  every  sort  of  amusement,  were  the 
chief  occupations  of  the  people  of  France  on  the  holy 
Sabbath.  Many  of  the  horses  wore  tinkling  bells  as 
they  went  out  to  the  fields ;  but  the  prophecy  is  not  yet 
fulfilled,  when  “there  shall  be  upon  the  bells  of  the 
horses  holiness  unto  the  Lord.”  *  In  passing  through  St. 
Denys ,  we  found  that  all  was  bustle  and  activity — vehi¬ 
cles  of  every  kind  coming  along  the  road,  and  every  one 
engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  pleasure.  A  band  of  children, 
and  a  few  women,  chiefly  old  people,  were  on  their  way 
to  church. 


*  Zech.  xiv.  20. 


FRENCH  SABBATH — PARIS. 


7 


On  reaching  Paris,  we  refreshed  ourselves,  and  set  out 
for  Marboeuf  Chapel ,  where  divine  service  is  conducted 
in  English.  The  streets  presented  an  endless  scene  of 
gaiety  and  show.  There  was  scarcely  a  shop  shut,  and 
the  people  literally  thronged  every  street,  all  in  their  best 
holiday  dress.  Our  way  led  through  the  “  Champs  Ely- 
sees ,”  crowded  with  people  of  all  ranks ;  each  determined 
to  find  their  Elysium  in  every  form  of  pleasure,  and 
openly  defying  the  words  of  the  Holy  One  of  Israel.* 
Even  children  were  there, — boys  and  girls  skipping  at 
their  games,  and  amusing  themselves  on  gaudily  painted 
swings.  The  well-conditioned  and  fashionable  were  pa¬ 
rading  up  and  down;  many  eating  and  drinking;  the 
noblesse  riding  in  all  kinds  of  vehicles.  It  might  be  a 
scene  like  this  that  was  witnessed  in  the  days  of  Noah, 
or  when  Lot  went  out  of  Sodom — eating,  drinking,  plant¬ 
ing,  building,  &c.  Even  now  the  day  of  Christ  would 
“  come  as  a  snare ”  upon  all  the  earth !  f  We  felt  the  con¬ 
trast  when  we  got  within  the  walls  of  the  Chapel.  While 
worshipping  there  with  a  devout  band,  we  seemed  to 
have  exchanged  the  din  and  confusion  of  Babel  for  the 
peace  and  stillness  of  the  Holy  Place.  In  the  evening 
we  heard  a  French  sermon  from  Frederic  Monod,  in  the 
upper  chamber  of  the  Oratoire,  on  Paul  being  sent  “  to 
open  the  blind  eyes the  assembly  was  small,  but  lively 
and  fervent,  and  the  singing  of  the  Psalms  in  French 
was  very  sweet ;  it  seemed  to  be  with  all  the  heart.  In 
canonical  hours  the  French  Protestants  use  a  short  lit¬ 
urgy  ;  they  have  also  a  short  extempore  prayer.  Out 
of  a  population  in  Paris  of  800,000,  only  2000  attend  regu¬ 
larly  any  Protestant  place  of  worship.  Still  the  state  of 
Protestantism  is  much  improved.  Not  long  ago  scarcely 
one  faithful  sermon  was  heard  in  Paris,  now  fourteen  are 
preached  every  Sabbath-day ;  and  there  are  Protestant 
schools,  attended  by  800  children,  two-thirds  of  whom 
are  children  of  Catholic  parents.  None  of  the  Protestant 
clergy  in  Paris  are  Neologian.  The  Popish  party  are 
active,  bringing  to  the  city  some  of  their  best  preachers, 
who  have  increased  the  attendance  at  their  churches,  but 
made  scarcely  any  impression  on  the  infidel  part  of  the 
population.  No  city  seems  more  to  resemble  Sodom.j; 
Even  in  our  way  from  the  church,  we  saw  some  of  the 
horrors  of  a  Parisian  Sabbath  evening;  gambling  and 
other  scenes  of  profligacy  being  plainly  visible  from  the 
street. 

*  Isa.  Iviii.  13. 


t  Luke  xvii.  26,  30. 


t  Rev.  xi.  8. 


3 


JEWS  IN  PARIS. 


(April  15.)  This  morning  (Monday),  Mr.  Evans  from 
Edinburgh,  and  other  excellent  friends  to  whom  we  were 
introduced,  assisted  us  in  our  inquiries  and  forwarded 
all  our  arrangements.  In  regard  to  the  Jews,  we  found 
that  they  are  not  numerous,  and  are  mostly  infidels* 
They  have  a  synagogue,  and  it  is  here  that  Rabbi  Cahen 
has  published  his  translation  of  the  Old  Testament,  a 
work  so  imbued  with  Neology,  that  many  even  of  his 
own  congregation  are  disgusted  with  it.  Frederic  Mo- 
nod  said,  that  there  had  been  efforts  made  for  the  con¬ 
version  of  the  Jews,  but  with  no  success.  He  knew  of 
no  instance  of  real  conversion  among  them  in  Paris. 
They  are  scattered  through  the  mass  of  the  population, 
and  thus  are  lost  to  the  Christian  eye — and  hence,  in 
some  degree,  we  may  account  for  the  comparatively  lit¬ 
tle  interest  taken  in  this  people  by  Christians  here.  The 
eye  of  the  Christian  in  Paris  rests  on  the  masses  of  infi¬ 
delity,  and  when  he  sees  these ,  “  he  is  moved  with  com¬ 
passion,”  and  can  look  no  farther.  Paris  is  by  many 
supposed  to  be  “  the  street  of  the  great  city,”  referred  to 
in  the  Book  of  Revelation.*  Its  daily  scenes  of  open  ini¬ 
quity,  as  well  as  the  tremendous  crimes  of  the  past,  well 
known  throughout  the  world,  may  entitle  it  to  this  awful 
pre-eminence.  We  were  struck  with  the  luxury  and 
thoughtlessness  of  this  great  city.  In  its  commonest 
hotels  are  seen  indications  of  plenty ;  and  the  piled  up 
rolls  of  white  bread  often  reminded  us  of  that  feature  of 
Sodom,  “  fulness  of  bread  g,nd  abundance  of  idleness  was 
in  her “  therefore,  they  were  haughty,  and  committed 
abomination  before  me.”  f 

We  saw  some  splendid  buildings.  The  Church  of  the 
Magdalene— The  Palaces— The  Pillar  in  the  Place  Ven- 
dome,  and  many  others.  We  had  time  to  walk  round 
the  city  and  see  some  of  its  magnificence.  But  even  had 
this  been  Babylon  with  its  hanging  gardens  and  walls 
of  brass,  we  would  rather  have  found  out  Israel  by  the 
river-side,  hanging  their  harps  on  the  willows,  than  gazed 
on  the  trophies  of  Atheism  and  the  abodes  of  guilt. 

(April  16.)  On  Tuesday  afternoon  we  set  out  for  Cha¬ 
lons  sur-Saone.  While  riding  up  the  banks  of  the  Seine 
and  across  the  Marne,  the  country  was  very  pleasant. 
Beautiful  villages  seem  to  be  characteristic  of  French 
scenery.  One  or  two  handsome  chateaux  appear,  with 
gilded  railings  according  to  French  taste.  Such  country- 


*  Rev,  xi.  8. 


t  Ezek.  xvi.  49,  50. 


TROYES — CHATILLON — DIJON. 


9 


seats,  however,  are  few,  a  fact  that  quite  accords  with  the 
national  gaiety,  to  which  rural  calm  would  be  a  burden. 

When  we  awoke  next  morning,  we  were  approaching 
Troyes ,  a  decayed-looking  town,  containing  28,000  in¬ 
habitants.  The  white  and  red  blossoms  of  the  cherry, 
the  apricot,  and  the  peach  trees,  met  the  eye  in  every 
garden  we  passed.  Vineyards  were  now  more  frequent, 
the  vines  just  beginning  to  bud.  Bundles  of  sticks  were 
lying  ready  to  support  them,  when  they  should  begin  to 
sprout.  In  the  plains,  a  field  of  vines  and  a  field  of 
wheat  generally  alternate,  affording  the  necessaries  and 
luxuries  of  life,*  corn  and  wine.  Some  of  the  fields  are 
ploughed  in  the  circular  manner,  as  in  the  Carse  of 
Cowrie.  We  then  came  to  the  Aube,  another  tributary 
of  the  Seine,  within  view  of  some  gently  rising  hills. 
There  were  with  us  in  the  diligence  two  young  Roman 
Catholic  lads,  very  open  and  amiable,  with  whom  we 
got  into  free  conversation.  As  we  were  distributing 
tracts  from  the  windows  to  the  people  that  passed  by, 
one  of  them  offered  to  join  us  in  our  employment,  and 
both  seemed  happy  at  being  presented  with  tracts  for 
themselves.  Indeed,  one  of  them  took  a  good  supply 
with  him  to  distribute  in  Lyons,  where  he  resides. 

About  sunset  we  reached  Chatillon-sur  Seine.  Walk¬ 
ing  onward  beyond  the  town,  while  the  postillions  were 
changing  horses,  we  found  it  a  quiet  peaceful  spot, — the 
scenery  resembling  the  banks  of  the  Jed  a  little  above 
Jedburgh.  In  this  district,  and  indeed  along  all  our 
journey,  we  observed  how  carefully  in  France  a  church 
has  been  attached  to  every  small  village.  Popery  has 
here  allowed  none  to  escape  its  grasp,  nor  grudged  to 
bring  its  ordinances  to  the  door  of  the  poorest  villagers. 

We  reached  Dijon  about  half-past  six  in  the  morning, 
and  made  up  for  the  uncomfortable  rest  of  tlm  diligence 
by  a  few  hours’  sleep  at  the  Hotel  de  la  Goitre.  The 
town  is  marked  out  by  a  remarkably  slender,  tapering 
spire  shooting  up  from  the  cathedral.  About  midday  we 
called  upon  the  Protestant  clergyman,  M.  Alfonse  Fr on- 
tin,  a  young  man  labouring  patiently  for  the  truth.  He 
has  the  charge  of  the  Protestant  population,  who  amount 
to  200  souls,  but  they  are  very  lifeless.  He  told  us  (and 
we  found  his  information  verified  by  an  intelligent 
member  of  his  congregation),  that  there  are  about  400 
Jews  here.  None  of  the  French  Protestants  in  the  town 


*  Ps.  iv.  7. 
3* 


10 


JEWS  IN  DIJON — ROMAN  CATHOLIC  PRIEST. 


have  ever  turned  their  attention  to  Israel,  but  M.  Oster, 
the  Jewish  missionary  from  Strasburg,  has  visited  the 
place.  M.  Frontin  went  with  us  to  the  house  of  Moses 
Israel,  the  Rabbi,  a  feeble  old  man,  of  no  education,  and 
very  poor.  A  young  Jew  was  our  guide,  who  at  first 
bitterly  opposed  all  we  said  on  the  subject  of  religion, 
but  soon  became  interested,  and  at  parting  took  some 
tracts,  at  the  same  time  positively  refusing  any  remune¬ 
ration  for  his  trouble  in  going  about  with  us.  When  M. 
Oster  was  here,  he  visited  the  synagogue,  desiring  to 
speak  in  a  friendly  way  with  the  Jews ;  but  they  treated 
him  very  ill,  and  many  even  followed  him  through  the 
streets  and  threw  back  his  tracts.  In  the  evening,  while 
preparing  to  set  out,  one  of  us  met  a  pleasant  little  boy, 
looking  at  the  diligence ,  who  eagerly  accepted  the  offer 
of  a  book  suited  to  his  age.  Soon  after  he  returned, 
bringing  with  him  an  old  man,  dressed  in  a  blue  frock, 
for  whom  he  asked  a  tract.  This  old  man  was  his 
father,  and  the  father  and  son  were  Jews !  The  father 
looked  at  our  Hebrew  Bible,  and  read  some  verses  aloud. 
We  gave  him  the  life  of  Dr.  Capadose  and  a  New  Tes¬ 
tament  in  French — both  of  which  he  took  with  as  much 
joy  as  his  little  boy,  shaking  hands  with  us  more  than 
once  at  the  window  of  the  diligence.  At  the  same  time, 
another  man  came  forward  and  asked  one  of  our  He¬ 
brew  tracts :  he  proved  to  be  a  Jew  going  to  Lyons,  but 
sceptical  in  his  views,  like  most  of  the  Jews  in  France. 
With  him  we  had  some  conversation  at  various  periods 
of  our  journey,  and  gave  him  the  Life  of  Capadose  on 
leaving  his  company. 

At  the  Table  d'hote,  the  young  Roman  Catholic  had 
mentioned  his  conversations  with  us,  and  recommended 
the  tracts  which  we  were  giving  away.  The  conse¬ 
quence  was,  that  before  the  vehicle  had  started  a  person 
came  running  down  from  the  inn,  to  get  some  for  the 
use  of  the  company. 

At  length,  fairly  seated,  we  found  a  Roman  Catholic 
priest  in  our  company.  With  him  we  conversed  some¬ 
times  in  French,  sometimes  in  Latin,  on  various  topics, 
chiefly,  however,  on  the  subject  of  peace  with  God. 
He  received  from  us,  and  read  the  tract  “La  bonne 
Nouvelle .”  At  sunset,  taking  out  his  prayer-book,  he 
requested  to  be  left  to  himself  for  a  little,  and  having 
completed  his  evening  devotions,  conversed  with  us 
for  nearly  two  hours  longer,  occasionally  with  some 
warmth. 


CHALONS — SAIL  ON  THE  SAONE. 


11 


At  half-past  five  next  morning,  we  were  at  Chalons , 
where  we  had  to  wait  two  hours  for  the  steam-boat  at  a 
miserable  inn,  “  Hotel  ties  Diligences .”  We  heard  that 
there  are  a  few  lively  Protestants  here.  At  seven  we 
embarked  on  the  Saone,  a  river  that  flows  so  quietly, 
that  it  is  difficult  to  tell  which  way  it  runs.  Our  voyage 
from  Chalons  to  Lyons  cost  no  more  than  2J?  francs  each, 
though  the  distance  is  about  100  miles — there  being  an 
opposition  steam-boat  on  the  river.  The  group  on  board 
was  interesting.  There  were  peasants  from  Grenoble 
with  broad  straw  hats,  frocks,  and  wooden  shoes ;  sol¬ 
diers  in  the  showy  uniform  of  France ;  sailors  with  the 
Italian  cap,  brown  or  red;  three  Roman  Catholic  priests 
with  the  three-cornered  hat,  black  bands  with  white  edge, 
black  cloak  and  sash,  and  buckles  in  their  shoes ;  and 
women  with  the  Swiss  bonnet,  that  seemed  to  be  falling 
over  the  forehead.  The  sail  was  delightful,  the  day  warm 
and  clear.  Many  of  the  sloping  vineyards  on  the  banks 
reminded  us  of  Isaiah’s  expression,*  “  My  beloved  hath 
a  vineyard  on  a  horn  the  son  of  oil i.  e.  a  little  hill  pro¬ 
jecting  like  a  horn,  with  its  soil  rich  and  fertile.  Tour - 
nou  is  a  picturesque  little  town,  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
river,  having  a  cathedral  with  two  fantastic  spires.  We 
afterwards  learned,  that  the  Spirit  has  lately  been  quick¬ 
ening  a  few  souls  there.  Magon,  half-way  down  the 
Saone,  is  a  large  town  with  a  handsome  bridge  over  the 
river.  It  was  after  leaving  this  town,  that  we  first  saw 
the  snowy  ridge  of  the  Lower  Alps,  and  part  of  the  Jura 
range,  in  the  direction  of  Geneva.  We  next  sailed  past 
Trevoux,  romantically  situated ;  its  old  walls  and  battle¬ 
ments  hanging  over  the  river,  and  the  church  perched 
upon  a  rock.  The  banks  are  beautifully  lined  with  white 
stone.  It  was  once  the  resort  of  a  famous  literary 
society. 

About  five  o’clock,  the  boat  reached  Lyons.  The  ap¬ 
proach  is  very  picturesque,  and  becomes  at  last  magnifi¬ 
cent.  The  river  seems  to  run  along  a  passage  cut  through 
high  solid  rocks  into  the  heart  of  the  town.  On  one  of 
the  high  rising  grounds  that  meet  the  eye  in  sailing  up, 
stood  the  Roman  amphitheatre  where  Blandina  was  put 
to  death.  Some  remains  of  it  still  exist,  and  the  house 
of  Pothinus  is  pointed  out  in  the  city. 

We  took  up  our  abode  in  the  Hotel  de  V Europe,  and 
were  soon  visited  by  M.  Cordes,  the  devoted  Protestant 


*  Isa.  v.  1. 


12 


LYONS — JEWS — SAIL  TO  AVIGNON. 


minister,  who  invited  us  to  spend  the  day  with  him.  M. 
Cordes,  in  going  through  the  town,  pointed  out  the  mar¬ 
ket-place,  where  the  five  Swiss  young  men  were  burned 
at  the  time  of  the  Reformation ;  and  showed  us  Peter 
Waldo’s  street,  which  is  still  called  “  Maudite”  i.  e.  accur¬ 
sed.  Some  streets  of  lofty  houses  reminded  us  of  the  ven¬ 
erable  piles  of  building  in  the  old  town  of  Edinburgh. 

There  are  200,000  souls  here,  and  the  trade  is  very 
great.  There  are  6000  Protestants,  and  several  Protes¬ 
tant  clergy ;  but  none  evangelical  or  orthodox  except  M. 
Cordes.  M.  Adolphe  Monod,  now  professor  at  Montau- 
ban,  was  once  pastor  here,  but  was  expelled  from  com¬ 
munion  by  the  Neologian  pastors.  M.  Cordes  succeeded, 
and  has  now  a  church  of  his  own.  He  has  400  hearers, 
very  lively  Christians ;  and  there  have  been  many  con¬ 
versions  under  his  ministry.  God  remembers  his  ancient 
witnesses  in  Lyons.  “  This  Mount  Zion  wherein  thou 
hast  dwelt,'1'1*  is  not  an  unmeaning  or  unavailing  plea, 
whether  offered  for  the  land  of  Israel,  or  for  other  places 
once  visited  by  the  Spirit.  There  are  about  400  French 
Protestant  clergy  in  the  kingdom,  but  of  these  scarcely 
half  are  orthodox.  Of  late,  faithful  pastors  have  been 
on  the  increase,  and  Evangelical  Protestant  congrega¬ 
tions  have  been  formed  at  Chalons,  Maqon,  and  Trevoux, 
the  places  we  passed  to-day.  The  Jews  have  a  syna¬ 
gogue  here.  Mr.  Wilson,  a  Christian  friend  of  M.  Cor¬ 
des,  told  us  that  he  went  round  with  M.  Oster,  and  found 
fifty  Jewish  families,  most  of  whom  were  sceptical  in 
their  opinions.  He  knew  of  only  one  convert,  a  youn°p 
man,  who  had  gone  to  Montlimart  to  follow  a  trade! 
There  are,  however,  some  Jewish  children  at  the  Protes¬ 
tant  school,  eight  at  the  week-day  and  three  at  the  infant 
school.  If  they  had  means,  the  number  might  be  in¬ 
creased.  u 

Next  morning  (Saturday,  April  20)  we  sailed  down  the 
rapid  Rhone  for  Avignon ,  a  distance  of  about  100  miles. 
Again  the  Lower  Alps  appeared  on  our  left— beautiful  in 
the  light  of  the  morning  sun— some  of  them  snow-clad  at 
the  summit.  The  scenery  on  the  river  is  exceedingly 
beautiful,  and  continues  full  of  interest,  until  the  frequen¬ 
cy  of  similar  views  makes  the  eye  weary.  There  is  more 
majesty  in  the  scenery  of  this  river  than  on  the  Saone. 
Hills  and  rocks  enclose  it.  The  vineyards  on  its  banks 
are  very  frequent,  raised  on  terraces,  like  the  steps  of  an 


*  Ps.  lxxiv.  2. 


THE  RHONE — AVIGNON — BEUCAIRE. 


13 


amphitheatre.  Sometimes  the  hills  are  bleak  and  wild 
reminding  us  of  Glencoe  and  others  of  our  native  moun¬ 
tains.  Sometimes  there  is  a  fine  open  country,  studded 
with  towns  and  villages,  villas,  and  gardens. 

Next  to  the  city  we  had  left,  we  felt  deepest  interest 
in  sailing  past  Vienne ,  close  to  the  river-side  on  the  left, 
early  renowned,  along  with  Lyons,  for  its  martyrs,  and 
its  devoted  Christians,  whose  calm  and  heavenly  spirit 
is  so  beautifully  manifest  in  their  letter  to  the  Church  of 
Smyrna.  An  intelligent  passenger  pointed  our  eye  to  a 
very  precipitous  hill  among  the  Alps :  “  It  is  at  the  foot 
of  this  hill  that  Provence  begins.”  We  passed  the  mouth 
of  the  /.sere,  flowing  into  the  Rhone,  and  came  to  Va¬ 
lence,  pleasantly  situated — a  place  where  Napoleon  spent 
a  great  part  of  his  youth.  We  next  passed  in  sight  of 
Montlimart ,  a  town  resembling  Abernethy  on  the  Tay. 
We  were  continually  sailing  under  bridges,  of  which 
there  are  seventeen  across  this  river.  One  of  these, 
called  Pont  Saint  l’Esprit,  is  a  very  splendid  one,  and  has 
eighteen  arches,  each  large  arch  including  in  it  a  smaller 
one,  that  the  water  may  flow  through  unimpeded.  It 
spans  the  river  at  a  very  broad  point.  We  often  met 
long  trains  of  horses  or  mules,  perhaps  sixty  in  a  train, 
dragging  a  chain  of  boats  laden  with  merchandise  up 
the  river ;  and  once  or  twice  an  immense  hay-stack  was 
conveyed  up  the  stream  in  this  manner. 

It  was  five  o’clock  when  we  reached  the  celebrated 
Avignon ,  an  ancient  palace  of  the  Popes  of  France.  In¬ 
deed,  it  seems  a  town  of  ruined  palaces  and  towers. 
Every  thing  combined  to  make  us  feel  the  exquisite 
beauty  of  its  situation.  The  evening  was  calm,  the  air 
soft,  the  sky  clear ;  the  trees,  in  which  the  town  is  em¬ 
bosomed,  wore  their  most  refreshing  verdure ;  the  clock 
sounded  from  the  tower  amidst  the  stillness,  reminding 
us  of  the  vesper-bell.  The  Alps  in  the  distant  back¬ 
ground,  and  the  splendid  river,  completed  the  scene. 

But  our  object  was  not  to  linger  over  scenery,  or 
enjoy  historical  memorials.  We  needed  to  be  self-de¬ 
nied.  Accordingly,  we  sailed  on  to  Beucaire,  and  there 
during  night  exchanged  our  vessel,  and  moved  onward 
to  the  mouth  of  the^Rhone.  In  the  vessel,  we  found 
that  the  bell  had  a  cross  on  it  with  this  inscription,  “  Sit 
nomen  Dei  benedictum,”  (Blessed  be  the  name  of  God). 
It  was  one  of  the  baptized  bells  of  Popery.  We  soon 
reached  Arles,  an  old  town,  full  of  antiquities,  though 
none  are  of  much  importance.  After  that  point,  the 


14 


ARLES — ISLAND  AT  THE  MOUTH  OF  RHONE. 


scenery  becomes  totally  uninteresting.  Our  Engineer 
was  an  Englishman,  who  seeing  us  distributing  tracts 
to  the  passengers,  became  very  zealous  in  the  same 
work.  He  was  a  steady  Protestant  by  profession,  though 
it  was  now  ten  years  since  he  came  to  this  station,  and 
during  all  that  time  had  been  only  twice  in  a  place  of 
worship. 

When  nine  leagues  from  Arles,  and  as  many  from 
Marseilles,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Rhone,  about  nine  o’clock 
a.  m.,  the  steamer  was  completely  stopped  in  its  progress. 
A  wind,  called  the  Mestrael ,  which  had  not  retarded 
the  boat  for  eighteen  months  before,  met  us  in  the  face ; 
and  the  current  joining  with  this  adverse  force,  made 
the  vessel  unmanageable.  It  was  immediately  resolved 
to  cast  anchor  close  by  an  island  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Rhone — a  small,  flat  island,  very  barren  and  sandy 
This  done,  we  all  landed,  waiting  till  the  wind  should 
change.  We  found  no  cultivation  on  the  island.  About 
twenty  asses  were  feeding  on  rushes.  The  inhabitants 
consisted  of  twelve  or  sixteen  families  of  fishermen ;  their 
huts  were  formed  of  rushes,  each  hut  surmounted  by  a 
cross  on  the  roof,  as  a  protection  from  storms  and  other 
accidents.  A  few  of  the  huts  had  vines  (though  not 
luxuriant)  growing  at  the  door,  and  forming  arbours. 
There  was  also  one  fig-tree  on  the  island,  a  proof  of  the 
mildness  of  the  climate.  The  language  used  by  the  peo¬ 
ple  is  neither  French  nor  Italian,  but  a  mixture  of  both. 
They  have  no  church  nor  school  nearer  than  Arles  or 
Marseilles.  Only  a  very  few  could  read  French  and 
understand  it ;  however,  as  these  few  might  be  readers  to 
the  rest,  we  were  anxious  to  leave  tracts  among  them. 
The  Engineer  made  his  appearance,  offering  to  go  to 
every  house  with  them.  .  One  tract,  “Religion  de  V Ar¬ 
gent  ”  (the  Money-Religion) — a  satirical  exposure  of 
Popery— was  got  hold  of  by  a  French  captain,  who  read 
it  aloud  to  a  crowd  of  by-standers.  The  Engineer,  not 
content  with  his  day’s  work,  asked  us  to  send  him  more 
from  home,  and  he  would  distribute  them  at  various 
times  in  the  course  of  his  voyages.  “  What  would  it  be 
to  England  (said  he)  to  send  a  man  to  preach  the  truth 
in  every  village  of  France  V’  Some  of  us  went  apart 
among  the  grass  and  rushes  for  prayer  and  reading  the 
Scriptures.  We  did  this  in  the  forenoon,  and  again  at 
evening,  with  the  Rhone  at  our  feet,  in  the  soft  air,  with 
a  clear  sky  above,  and  perfect  stillness  around.  That 
night  we  had  no  other  couch  than  the  floor  of  the  cabin. 


MARSEILLES — JEWISH  RABBI. 


15 


Before  morning  the  wind  changed,  and  by  half-past 
eight  we  reached  Marseilles ,  where  we  found  rest  at  the 
Hotel  du  Pavilion.  The  approach  to  the  city  from  the 
sea  is  magnificent — high  hills  or  rather  rocks  form  the 
west  side  of  the  entrance,  and  deep  blue  waters — deep 
even  in  the  midst  of  the  harbour — floated  up  the  vessel 
to  its  anchorage.  The  harbour  is  formed  by  the  sea  run¬ 
ning  into  a  natural  basin,  which  is  always  full,  the  ebb 
of  the  tide  being  less  than  six  feet  deep.  It  is  defended 
by  very  strong  fortifications,  and  these  are  splendidly 
built.  Ships  from  all  nations  ride  at  anchor  in  the  har¬ 
bour,  and  people  of  all  countries  are  found  in  its  streets. 
The  population  is  .150, 000 — of  these  only  2000  are  even 
nominally  Protestant.  They  have,  however,  three  evan¬ 
gelical  pastors,  with  a  Sabbath  school  attended  by  60 
children,  and  a  week-day  school  attended  by  50  girls  and 
40  boys — both  of  very  recent  origin.  This  information 
was  given  to  us  by  one  of  the  pastors,  M.  Monod.  We 
found  time  to  call  on  the  Rabbi,  a  smart  Frenchman. 
Though  a  Jew,  his  opinions  are  those  of  the  Neologians. 
He  denies  the  fall  of  man,  believes  that  the  curse  on  the 
ground  was  a  blessing,  and  that  a  new  heart  means  the 
improvement  of  the  mind.  He  rejects  the  Talmud,  and 
though  he  does  not  avow  his  rejection  of  the  Bible,  yet 
denies  the  restoration  of  Israel  to  their  own  land ;  and 
disbelieves  the  promise  of  a  Messiah,  on  the  ground  that 
the  good  of  the  universe,  and  not  of  one  nation,  is  what 
we  are  to  look  for.  Most  of  the  young  Jews  here  are 
quite  given  up  to  the  world,  and  cherish  infidel  views. 
The  Rabbi  was  willing  to  take  tracts— was  proud  to 
shew  his  synagogue — and  said  that  there  were  about 
1000  Jews  in  the  town.  We  got  more  information  in  the 
evening;  but  there  is  very  little  to  interest  a  friend  of 
Israel  here. 

We  had  by  this  time  ascertained  that  a  steamer  had 
sailed  for  Malta  the  day  before,  and  that  we  must  wait 
ten  days  for  another.  We  resolved,  therefore,  to  spend 
the  time  in  visiting  as  much  of  Italy  as  we  could.  A 
boat  was  about  to  sail  for  Leghorn  called  the  “  Sully,” 
in  which  we  embarked,  enjoying  a  most  beautiful  day, 
and  smooth  sea.  The  vessel  coasted  the  shore,  which  is 
bold  and  precipitous.  We  had  a  near  view  of  Toulon , 
the  bay  of  the  French  navy,  and  the  place  where  Napo¬ 
leon  first  pointed  the  cannon.  Its  harbour  is  shut  in  by 
hills,  and  strongly  fortified. 

The  Isle  of  Hieres  next  came  in  sight,  whose  salubri- 


16 


SAIL  TO  LEGHORN — ALLASIO — GENOA. 


ous  climate  draws  invalids  to  its  shores.  The  scenery 
continued  rocky  and  picturesque— the  waters  deep  blue, 
and  calm— “  a  glassy  sea.”  At  night  the  moon  rose  clear, 
and  the  stars  were  very  brilliant ;  the  waters  glittered 
with  peculiar  brightness  under  such  a  firmament.  We 
united  in  prayer  in  the  cabin,  and  “  slept  in  peace,  for 
God  sustained  us.” 

At  seven  next  morning  we  were  on  the  coast  of  Italy. 
Numerous  villages  attracted  the  eye,  built  of  stone  that 
seemed  remarkably  white  and  clean,  especially  under 
the  morning  sun.  Omeglia ,  Allasio,  Albenga,  were  all 
successively  pointed  out  close  to  the  water-edge ;  the  olive- 
clad  Alps  ( Alpes  maritimae )  pressing  hard  upon  them  in 
the  background.  Allasio  stands  on  a  hill,  and  the  spire 
of  its  church  is  a  fine  object.  The  hills  round  these  towns 
are  dotted  with  villas,  and  this  continued  to  be  the  aspect 
of  the  coast  till  we  reached  Genoa.  Italy  is  indeed  a 
beautiful  region,  but  “  gross  darkness  covers  its  people.” 
The  engineer  of  our  vessel,  a  pious  Presbyterian  of  the 
Synod  of  Ulster,  agreed  to  circulate  tracts  on  board,  if 
we  would  send  a  supply;  and  proposed  to  give  them  to 
the  other  engineers  along  this  coast,  all  of  whom  are 
Englishmen  and  Protestants. 

We  entered  the  splendid  bay  of  Genoa  about  midday. 
The  finest  view  of  Genoa  is  from  the  sea.  The  eye  is 
almost  dazzled  in  wandering  round  the  bay,  by  the  irreg¬ 
ular  tiers  of  marble  palaces,  fantastic  towers,  and  spires, 
the  remnants  of  ancient  days.  The  whiteness  of  the 
marble  and  the  bright  colouring  of  many  of  the  houses, 
have  a  very  striking  appearance.  Steep  sloping  hills  en¬ 
close  it  from  behind,  and  it  is  walled  and  fortified  on 
every  side;  the  cannon  pointing  down  upon  the  town. 
Entering  the  harbours,  the  galley-slaves  loaded  with 
chains  attracted  our  attention.  They  work  in  a  floating 
machine,  like  the  tread-mill,  used  for  bringing  up  the 
mud  of  the  harbour.  They  are  sentenced  by  fiction  of 
law,  not  for  life,  but  for  120  years. 

On  landing  we  were  examined  by  the  police.  Our 
names  and  the  place  where  we  meant  to  lodge  in  the 
city  were  demanded,  betraying  a  jealousy  which  made 
us  feel  that  we  were  no  longer  in  a  free  country.  We 
took  up  our  residence  at  the  Hotel  Croix  de  St.  Malte. 

The  streets  of  Genoa  are  very  narrow,  and  delightfully 
cool.  Originally  carriages  could  not  go  along  them,  but 
now  some  of  them  are  made  a  little  broader.  Most  of 
the  houses  have  pilasters  and  entrances  of  white  marble. 


GENOA — POPERY. 


17 

Some  are  entirely  built  of  marble.  One  lately  built  by 
Paganini  was  pointed  out  to  us.  It  is  very  common  to 
see  pictures  fixed  into  the  walls  on  the  outside  of  the 
houses,  in  the  porches,  and  even  in  the  interior  of  hotels. 
Among  these,  the  pictuie  of  Andrea  Doria  frequently 
occurs. 

The  appearance  of  the  inhabitants  attracted  our  notice. 
The  females  wear  a  beautiful  veil,  which  covers  the 
back  part  of  the  head  and  the  shoulders,  meeting  over 
the  breast.  Some  wear  it  of  a  fine  white,  some  of  bright 
variegated  colours ;  to  all  it  gives  a  clean,  tidy  appear¬ 
ance.  The  number  of  Ecclesiastics  here  is  remarkable. 
We  met  twenty-eight  in  the  priests’  dress  in  a  ten  min¬ 
utes’  walk.  Of  these  many  are  not  priests,  but  all  are 
connected  with  the  ecclesiastical  office.  We  here  also, 
for  the  first  time,  met  with  sandaled  Monks,  bare-headed, 
rough-looking  men,  the  Dominicans  in  a  brown,  and  the 
Fi anciscans  in  a  black  dress;  the  rude  cord  round  the 
waist  and  pendent  crucifix,  the  bare  head,  and  cowl, 
marking  them  all. 

It  was  new  to  us  to  see  oranges  growing  in  the  open 
air,  often  in  flower-pots  set  upon  the  terrace  or  balcony, 
and  everywhere  in  the  gardens.  In  the  evening  we 
enjoyed  a  walk  in  the  promenade,  adorned  with  shady 
trees,  marble  seats,  and  a  fine  jet  d'eau ,  while  hoarse 
cioaking  frogs  reminded  us  of  Virgil’s  “  ranae  raucaed 
We  ascended  a  fortified  place,  and  looked  down  upon 
the  town.  We  observed  the  olive,  the  vine,  and  the 
lemon,  in  the  gardens,  and  the  dark  shady  cypress  in  the 
church-yards.  The  evening  bells  were  ringing  and 
every  tower  seemed  to  send  forth  a  sound.  Returning 
we  saw  the  fine  effect  of  moonlight  on  marble  buildings, 
giving  them  a  soft  and  pleasing  tinge.  At  the  corner  of 
eveiy  street  a  lamp  was  lighted  up  before  a  picture  of 
Madonna,  and  an  offering  of  fresh  flowers  laid  before  it. 
We  also  met  the  fashionables  issuing  forth  to  the  spectd- 
dc  or  theatre,  a  page  lighting  their  steps  with  a  bright 
silk  lantern,  all  as  intent  on  pleasure,  as  if  the  day  of 
Babylon's  doom  was  afar  off.  “  They  glorify  themselves, 
and  live  deliciously ;  they  say  in  their  heart,  I  sit  a  queen, 
and  am  no  widow,  and  shall  see  no  sorrow.”* 

(April  25.)  We  began  our  inquiries  yesterday,  but  re¬ 
ceived  fuller  information  this  day.  IVe  called  upon  the 
Swiss  Protestant  minister,  who  received  us  kindly.  Genoa 


*  Rev.  xviii.  7. 
4 


18 


JEWS  IN  GENOA. 


contains  from  90,000  to  100,000  inhabitants.  Of  these, 
only  25  are  British  residents,  and  150  Swiss,  and  these 
have  one  place  of  worship  between  them.  He  told  us 
that  they  are  allowed  to  worship  only  by  the  sufferance 
of  Government :  they  are  strictly  watched,  and  no  Italian 
would  be  allowed  to  join  their  communion,  even  though 
convinced  of  the  truth.  He  appeared  to  be  sadly  dis¬ 
heartened.  Happy  day  when  Evangelists  shall  be  per¬ 
mitted  to  stand  and  proclaim  the  truth  in  the  streets  of 
Genoa !  We  waited  upon  the  English  Consul,  who  intro¬ 
duced  us  to  Signor  Becchi,  the  vice-consul,  a  Roman 
Catholic,  but  a  very  mild,  candid,  amiable  man.  He  and 
a  young  English  gentleman,  a  merchant  from  Ancona, 
gave  us  information  regarding  the  Jews.  They  have  a 
synagogue  here,  but  there  are  only  about  250  residents. 
The  reason  of  there  being  so  few,  is  said  to  be,  that  “one 
Genoese  has  cunning  enough  to  cheat  two  Jews.”  So 
they  say  of  Lucca,  that  “  one  Luccese  can  overreach 
three  Jews.” 

The  Jews  here  are  not  strict  in  their  religious  obser¬ 
vances,  but  often  do  business  on  their  Sabbath,  and  seve¬ 
ral  of  them  have  become  Roman  Catholics.  Only  three 
or  four  months  ago,  a  family  of  seven  were  baptized 
with  great  pomp,  simply  for  the  sake  of  worldly  gain. 
There  was  also  recently  a  Jewish  child  baptized  in  the 
Protestant  church ;  but  the  reason  was,  that  the  mother 
was  a  Protestant,  and  had  made  that  agreement  at  her 
marriage.  There  are  not  more  than  four  or  five  Jewish 
families  of  wealth  and  respectability  in  the  town. 

Signor  Becchi  introduced  us  to  a  Jew  from  Gibraltar, 
named  Moses  Parienti,  an  elderly  man,  of  an  amiable 
disposition,  and  one  who  was  well  acquainted  with  his 
nation.  His  beard  was  undressed,  which  he  begged  us 
to  excuse,  as  he  was  then  in  mourning  for  the  recent 
death  of  his  wife.  He  told  us,  that  in  Genoa  there  are 
few  learned  Jews,  and  most  of  them  are  poor.  He  reck¬ 
oned  about  fifty  families ;  but  many  move  from  place  to 
place.  They  are  not  now,  he  said,  admitted  to  the  casinos 
(clubs),  although  formerly  they  were ;  at  which  exclu¬ 
sion  many  of  the  citizens  expressed  regret.  He  knows 
that,  in  Italy,  Roman  Catholics  are  willing  to  receive 
Jewish  children  and  baptize  them,  if  the  nurses  do  (what 
is  sometimes  done)  carry  them  off,  and  take  them  to  a 
priest;  and,  according  to  his  statement,  throughout  all 
Tuscany,  the  Jews  enjoy  perfect  freedom.  He  repre¬ 
sented  Leghorn  as  the  chief  place  in  Italy  for  them,  and 


JEWS  IN  ITALY. 


19 


thought  that  there  were  nearly  14,000  there,  with  forty 
managers  to  take  charge  of  their  civil  concerns,  and  a 
flourishing  school  for  boys  and  girls.  He  offered  us  let¬ 
ters  to  Signore  Abodram  and  Franchetti,  who  are  at  the 
head  of  the  nation  there.  There  are  no  Jews  at  Civita 
Vecchia.  The  King  of  Naples  allows  none  to  dwell  in 
his  dominions.  There  are  none  in  Sardinia ,  because 
that  island  was  part  of  the  Spanish  kingdom  of  Arragon, 
from  which  all  were  expelled.  Not  long  ago,  a  Jew 
named  Israel  went  there  in  disguise,  but  was  at  last 
forced  to  flee.  There  are  none  in  Corsica.  The  French 
do  not  forbid  it,  but  the  native  population  are  bigoted  to 
excess.  At  Milan  there  are  1500,  and  some  have  pro¬ 
perty  in  land.  At  Verona ,  Pavia ,  Padua ,  Parma ,  and 
Venice ,  a  good  number  are  found.  At  Florence  and 
Modena ,  there  are  a  few ;  and  at  Pisa  also ;  but  the  families 
there  are  chiefly  from  Leghorn.  At  Ferrara ,  Becchi 
reckoned  about  4000  souls.  At  Turin  there  are  50 
Spanish,  and  1500  German  Jews;  the  latter  of  whom 
have  a  fine  synagogue,  and  use  a  different  liturgy  from 
the  Spanish.  At  Nice  there  are  400  or  500,  and  many 
of  them  from  England.  Nine  months  ago,  an  order  was 
issued  by  government  to  put  them  in  ghetto ;  but  the 
Prussian  Consul  there  being  a  Jew  refused  to  go,  and 
his  remonstrances  had  the  effect  of  leaving  the  matter 
undetermined.  At  Lucca  none  are  allowed  to  settle, 
but  many  reside  for  a  short  time.  Every  three  months 
they  must  get  from  the  Duke  a  new  permission  to  re¬ 
main.  Through  all  Piedmont  they  enjoy  considerable 
liberty ;  and  hence  Jews  are  found  at  Trieste,  Cassagli, 
Asti,  Alessandria,  Acqui,  and  Cuneo.  At  Rome,  there 
are  5000  or  6000  who  live  in  ghetto ;  and  though  much 
oppressed,  yet  still  remain,  because  they  make  money. 
At  Gibraltar  there  used  to  be  6000  families,  but  these 
are  now  reduced  to  2000.  At  Corfu  there  are  many. 
A  few  at  Athens.  The  Portuguese  consul-general  there, 
Signor  Pacifico,  was  a  Jew  from  Lisbon. 

Signor  Becchi  spoke  of  the  contributions  made  by  the 
Jews  for  the  Holy  Land.  They  keep  boxes  in  the  syna¬ 
gogues,  over  which  it  is  written,  “  For  J erusalemf  or, 
“For  Saphet,”  &c. ;  and  at  a  certain  time,  a  commis¬ 
sioner  is  appointed  to  see  what  these  contain,  and  to  send 
the  contents  to  the  Holy  Land.  The  Jews  of  Italy  write 
pure  Hebrew,  and  not  Italian  in  Hebrew  characters.  He 
said  they  write  really  onpn  (lashon  hakkodesh), 
“  the  holy  tongue.” 


20 


LEGHORN. 


The  English  gentleman  from  Ancona  gave  us  much 
information  regarding  the  Jews  of  that  city.  He  thought 
that  there  were  about  4000  there,  or  nearly  one-fifth  of 
the  whole  population,  which  is  24,000.  They  are  scru¬ 
pulous  about  engaging  in  business  on  their  Sabbath,  and 
as  fair  in  their  dealings  as  any  in  the  town.  At  Lent 
and  Good  Friday,  they  are  shut  up  in  their  houses;  and 
their  quarter  of  the  town  is  called  ghetto,  as  at  Rome. 
There  are  other  oppressions  to  which  they  are  subjected ; 
yet  still  they  continue  in  the  town,  because  they  make 
money,  the  native  population  being  stupid  and  indolent. 
They  are  not  allowed  to  visit  casinos,  nor  to  buy  land ; 
but  many  of  them  have  villas.  Mr.  Lewis  Way  spent 
six  or  eight  months  there,  and  often  visited  their  syna¬ 
gogues.  Most  of  the  young  men  are  deists,  and  devoted 
to  the  world.  It  is  said  that  occasionally  Roman  Ca¬ 
tholics  get  hold  of  their  children  and  baptize  them,  and 
then  they  must  be  brought  up  as  Christians. 

We  afterwards  mounted  up  a  steep  path  to  the  north 
of  Genoa,  and  came  upon  a  fine  view  of  the  Ligurian 
Hills.  A  lovely  valley  watered  by  a  rivulet  lay  beneath, 
the  hills  on  all  sides  terraced  for  vines.  Villages  were 
scattered  here  and  there,  and  six  churches  were  in 
sight.  At  six  in  the  evening,  we  bade  farewell  to  Genoa. 
It  is  a  lovely  town,  but  the  shadow  of  death  rests  upon 
it.  Popery  reigns  undisturbed,  holding  all  in  chains. 

(April  26.)  Early  this  morning,  we  cast  anchor  in  the 
harbour  of  Leghorn.  The  morning  was  misty  and  rainy, 
unlike  the  sky  of  Italy,  and  the  town  appeared  flat  ana 
cheerless.  Sailing  up  a  canal  into  the  heart  of  the  town, 
we  soon  after  found  ourselves  comfortably  settled  in  the 
San  Marco  Albergo,  a  hotel  kept  by  a  Scotsman,  Mr.  D. 
Thomson,  well  known  to  us  for  the  kindness  which  he 
showed  to  our  countryman,  Rev.  Mr.  Martin,  minister 
of  St.  George’s,  Edinburgh,  during  his  last  illness.  He 
and  Mrs.  Thomson  received  us  most  cordially,  and  we 
found  their  house  a  home  indeed.  Hearing  that  Leghorn 
was  a  free  port,  we  thought  that  it  might  be  free  to  re¬ 
ceive  the  gospel ;  and  accordingly,  without  reserve,  gave 
tracts  to  each  of  the  eight  men  who  carried  up  our  lug¬ 
gage,  and  to  some  bystanders.  Scarcely,  however,  had 
an  hour  elapsed,  when  an  officer  appeared  at  the  inn, 
making  inquiry  if  we  were  the  persons  who  had  been 
distributing  books.  Our  box  of  books  and  tracts,  and 
our  bag  of  Hebrew  books,  were  immediately  sealed  up 


LEGHORN — REV.  MR.  MARTIN. 


21 


and  carried  off,  and  the  two  elder  members  of  the  Depu¬ 
tation  summoned  to  appear  before  the  Commissary  of 
Police  without  delay.  After  a  long  examination,  it  was 
decided  that  the  books  and  tracts  be  sent  to  the  Censor 
at  Florence,  and  that  until  his  report  be  made,  we  be 
dismissed. 

Sitting  at  table  in  the  afternoon,  Mr.  Thomson  gave 
us  some  particulars  ofMr.  Martin’s  death.  He  had  said, 
that  he  wished  to  die  at  home,  or  if  not  at  home,  in  such 
a  house  as  this,  for  his  own  father  kept  an  inn,  and  it 
reminded  him  of  home.  The  Sabbath  before  he  died, 
when  told  that  it  was  Sabbath,  he  said,  “  Yes,  this  is  the 
day  that  the  Lord  hath  made and  turning  to  Mr. 
Thomson,  “  This  is  your  communion — you  will  tell  me 
at  night  what  you  hear.”  In  the  beginning  of  the  week 
he  asked  Mr.  T.  to  read  to  him.  Fie  read  John  xiv.,  and 
had  scarcely  finished  the  chapter,  when  he  asked,  “  What 
is  a  free  port  ?”  On  its  being  explained :  “  Is  there  any 
difficulty,  then,  in  landing  100  Bibles  1”  This  was  among 
the  last  things  he  said.  His  desire  was  complied  with. 
Another  interesting  case  occurred  here,  of  a  young  man 
named  Kennedy  from  Glasgow,  travelling  for  his  health, 
and  who  had  been  visiting  Rome.  He  was  thoughtless 
in  the  extreme ;  but  his  gay  companion,  on  leaving  him 
said,  that  now  he  had  better  turn  to  his  Bible.  This  re¬ 
mark  led  him  to  the  Scriptures.  When  he  arrived  at 
Leghorn,  he  seemed  to  undergo  a  complete  change  of 
heart,  and  died  here  full  of  peace  and  joy. 

We  had  an  opportunity  the  following  day  of  visiting 
the  English  Cemetery.  It  is  filled  with  many  beautiful 
monuments  of  the  purest  marble,  and  is  kept  like  a  gar¬ 
den,  profusely  planted  with  the  rose,  the  cypress,  and  the 
weeping  willow.  We  visited  the  graves  of  Smollett  and 
Horner,  at  a  little  distance  from  which,  a  palm-tree  guides 
to  the  spot  where  the  remains  of  Mr.  Martin  are  laid. 
There  is  a  plain  marble  monument  over  the  grave,  with 
an  inscription  written  by  Dr.  Chalmers.  The  tomb  of 
J.  Wentworth  Murray,  who  died  at  Florence  in  1821, 
has  this  simple  inscription,  full  of  meaning  to  surviving 
friends,  “  For  a  small  moment  have  I  forsaken  thee,  but 
with  great  mercies  will  I  gather  thee.” 

Leghorn  is  a  flourishing  commercial  port,  visited  an¬ 
nually  by  300  ships  from  Britain  alone,  but  the  state  of 
religion  is  very  low.  There  is  a  handful  of  Swiss  and 
German  Protestants ;  but  not  a  single  instance  has  oc- 

4* 


22 


LEGHORN — POPERY. 


curred  of  a  native  Italian  openly  renouncing  Popery 
One  reason  for  this  may  be  found  in  the  law  of  the  coun¬ 
try,  which  strictly  forbids  apostasy  from  the  Romish 
faith.  And  another  reason,  no  less  powerful,  is  to  be 
found  in  the  licentiousness  of  Protestants  in  Italy.  The 
English  in  that  country  are  generally  gay  and  dissolute, 
regardless  of  all  religion.  One  of  the  most  profligate 
Italian  towns  is  Florence,  and  the  English  residents  take 
the  lead  in  dissipation.  Hence  it  has  become  an  almost 
universal  impression,  that  Protestantism  is  the  way  to 
infidelity. 

It  is  to  be  feared,  that  a  great  number  of  the  young 
Romish  priests  are  infidels  at  heart,  and  many  are  great 
gamblers.  On  the  other  hand,  some  appear  to  be  con¬ 
scientious  men,  and  exemplary  in  their  Jives,  and  seve¬ 
ral  private  persons  of  their  community  seem  to  be  really 
Christians.  The  sincere  priests  preach  most  vehemently 
against  prevailing  vices.  We  were  told  of  one  who  a  few 
days  before,  preaching  against  breaking  the  Sabbath, 
spoke  in  this  way :  “  Some  of  you  will  say,  I  have  a  dispen¬ 
sation  from  the  Bishop  or  from  the  Pope ;  but  I  say  this  is 
the  word  of  God,  and  the  Bishop  or  the  Pope  is  nothing 
to  the  word  of  God.”  We  heard  of  another  priest  who 
began  with  the  sins  of  the  government,  and  then  spoke 
of  the  sins  of  the  priesthood  in  a  most  severe  manner. 
He  said,  “Ye  should  be  the  light  of  the  world,  and  what 
are  ye  but  darkness  ?  Ye  should  be  the  salt  of  the  earth, 
and  what  are  ye  but  salt  without  savour,  ruining  your 
own  souls  and  the  souls  of  others  1” 

The  priesthood  in  Italy  are  in  a  great  measure  losing 
their  hold  upon  the  people,  and  confession  is  greatly  ne¬ 
glected.  We  were  told  of  a  priest  a  fortnight  before, 
who  preached  to  the  people,  that  it  was  lawful  for  a  wife 
in  certain  circumstances  to  steal  from  her  husband ;  if 
he  was  a  spendthrift  and  neglected  her,  she  should  take 
what  she  needed.  On  being  afterwards  asked  by  a  Pro¬ 
testant  gentleman  how  he  could  preach  such  doctrines 
to  the  people,  and  if  it  would  not  be  better  that  the  wife 
should  tell  her  case  to  the  church  ?  “  The  church !”  said 
the  priest ;  “  they  care  as  much  for  the  church  as  you  do.” 

We  heard  of  another  priest  preaching  in  this  manner: 
“  Confession  is  so  neglected  among  you,  that  you  are  a 
mockery  to  the  Jews.  A  Jew  the  other  day  missed  some 
money :  he  knew  that  none  but  a  Catholic  had  been  near 
him,  so  he  went  and  charged  him  with  it.  The  man 
denied  having  touched  the  money.  ‘  Well,’  said  the  Jew, 


LEGHORN — SABBATH  IN  ITALY. 


23 


‘  when  do  you  go  to  confession]’  ‘Confession !’  said  the 
Italian,  ‘I  never  confess,’  ‘Ah,  then,’  said  the  Jew,  ‘I 
will  never  see  my  money  again.’  ” 

If  any  thing  is  done  to  overthrow  Popery  in  Italy,  it 
must  be  done  through  the  priesthood ;  for  if  books  are 
introduced  among  the  people  without  their  knowledge, 
they  soon  find  it  out,  their  jealousy  is  set  on  fire,  and 
their  enmity  increased.  We  heard  here,  that  many  of 
the  Romish  Clergy  have  expressed  great  joy  at  the 
spread  of  Puseyism  in  England. 

During  the  time  of  our  visit,  the  canonization  of  four 
new  saints  expected  shortly  to  take  place  at  Rome,  en¬ 
grossed  much  of  the  public  conversation.  At  Monte 
Nero ,  three  miles  from  town,  there  is  a  famous  shrine  of 
the  Madonna,  to  which  pilgrimages  are  made  at  all  times. 
The  Dominicans  lately  found  an  image  of  the  Virgin 
there,  which  has  brought  their  order  into  great  repute. 
When  the  Pope  visited  Leghorn  several  years  ago,  the 
great  square  of  the  town  presented  a  scene  worthy  of 
laeing  noticed.  An  immense  multitude  crowded  the 
square  to  excess.  The  Pope  appeared,  and  all  fell  on 
their  knees.  His  holiness  then  stood  over  the  kneeling 
multitude  and  pronounced  his  benediction.  It  was  one 
of  those  scenes  which  irresistibly  led  the  spectator  to 
the  prophetic  words  regarding  the  Man  of  Sin,  “  He,  as 
God,  sitteth  in  the  temple  of  God,  shewing  himself  that 
he  is  God.”  * 

We  spent  the  Jewish  Sabbath  in  making  acquaintance 
with  some  intelligent  Jews,  of  whose  information  we 
hoped  to  avail  ourselves  in  the  beginning  of  the  week. 
On  our  own  Sabbath  (April  28)  we  attended  service  at 
the  English  Chaplaincy.  In  the  evening,  Dr.  Black 
preached  in  the  hotel,  in  the  large  room,  next  that  in 
which  Mr.  Martin  died,  to  a  numerous  audience,  chiefly 
of  our  own  countrymen.  All  the  day  long,  the  town 
was  full  of  bustle  and  gaiety.  The  ringing  of  bells,  and 
the  music  of  the  military,  dissipated  the  Sabbath  still¬ 
ness.  Popery  has  abolished  the  fourth  commandment, 
as  effectually  as  it  has  done  the  second.  Instead  of 
teaching  “  Remember  the  Sabbath-day  to  keep  it  holy,” 
they  teach  by  precept  and  by  example,  “  Remember  to 
keep  holy  the  festivals.”f 

*  2  Thess.  ii.  4. 

t  In  the  Italian  Catechism,  composed  by  order  of  Clement  VIII. 
entitled  “  Dottrina  Christiana  breve,”  republished  at  Rome  1838,  which 
we  bought  at  Civita  Vecchia,  these  words  are  given  instead  of  the 
fourth  commandment,  “  Ricordati  di  santificare  le  Feste.” 


24 


LEGHORN — JEWISH  SYNAGOGUE. 


In  passing  along  the  streets  to  the  Chaplaincy,  we 
observed  with  a  shudder  criminals  at  work  cleaning  the 
streets,  chained  one  to  another,  and  having  their  crimes 
stamped  upon  their  backs.  One  was  marked,  “  Furto 
violento  ”  (robbery) ;  another,  “  Uxorcidio  ”  (killing  his 
wife) ;  another,  “  Omicidia  in  rissa  ”  (manslaughter  in  a 
quarrel). 

On  Friday  evening,  and  frequently  during  our  stay, 
we  visited  the  synagogue.  It  is  a  large  handsome 
building,  and  reckoned  the  finest  in  Europe,  with  the 
exception  of  that  of  Amsterdam.  There  are  two  gal¬ 
leries  for  women,  one  above  the  other,  the  lattice- work 
of  which  is  beautiful.  The  place  of  the  ark  is  lined 
with  variegated  marble ;  the  door  veiled  with  a  curtain 
of  black  velvet,  flowered  with  silver,  and  having  a  motto 
from  the  Psalms.  The  reading-desk  is  also  of  mar¬ 
ble  : — the  velvet  cloth  bearing  the  motto,  “  The  law 
of  the  Lord  is  perfect,  converting  the  soul.”  There 
were  perhaps  500  Jews  present,  but  few  seemed  to  take 
any  interest  in  the  service.  Close  by  the  ark  stood 
two  Orientals,  dressed  in  eastern  costume,  venera¬ 
ble  men,  with  long  grey  beards,  lately  come  from 
Jerusalem.  Many  came  to  them  to  kiss  their  hand,  and 
get  it  laid  upon  their  head.  Others  also  gave  this  bene¬ 
diction. 

Near  the  two  Easterns,  stood  another  Jew  of  some 
eminence  from  Saloniki.  Jews  from  Greece,  Barbary, 
Turkey,  Syria,  and  Arabia,  are  often  here,  as  we  learned 
from  an  English  Jew  whom  we  met  in  the  synagogue. 
At  the  door,  for  the  first  time  we  observed  the  box  for 
alms,  having  the  word  npnx  (tsedaka),  “  alms,”  over  it, 
and  another  with  this  inscription  aain  Ss-w  px,  that  is — 
“  For  the  land  of  Israel,  let  it  (the  temple)  be  built  and 
erected  speedily  in  our  days.” 

The  whole  population  of  Leghorn  in  1835,  including 
the  suburbs,  was  76,397,  and  the  Jews  at  that  time 
in  all  Tuscany  were  reckoned  at  6486.  Now  (1839), 
in  Leghorn  alone  there  are  9000  or  10,000  Jews, 
some  of  them  among  the  most  wealthy  men  in  the 
land.  They  have  much  influence  over  the  government, 
and  most  of  them  are  very  liberal  in  their  religious 
opinions. 

From  the  printed  statistics  of  the  Tuscan  States,  we 
gathered  the  following  facts.  “  The  Papal  States  having 
discouraged  the  Jews,  they  have  flocked  into  Tus¬ 
cany.  The  Duke  of  Tuscany  granted  land  to  the  Jews 


RABBI  BOLAFFI. 


25 


in  a  marshy  district,  called  Maremne,  on  condition  of 
their  cultivating  it.  About  a  thousand  siccate  of  land 
were  taken  by  the  Jews  for  the  purpose  of  colonization, 
near  the  town  of  Follonica,  and  nearly  300  labourers  em¬ 
ployed  in  clearing  away  brushwood,  trees,  &c.  It  was 
proposed  to  divide  the  district  into  twelve  podtre  or  sep¬ 
arate  estates,  and  erect  a  villa,  or  fattoria ,  to  superintend 
the  whole.”  The  Jewish  schoolmaster  at  Leghorn  in¬ 
formed  us  that  this  project  had  not  succeeded,  and  that 
very  few  Jews  had  offered  to  settle  there.  It  seems  vain 
to  try  to  plant  Israel  any  where  till  they  be  planted 
again  upon  their  own  land.* 

There  are  occasionally  conversions  to  Popery  among 
them  from  interested  views.  But  about  three  years  ago, 
there  occurred  a  sincere  and  somewhat  singular  conver¬ 
sion.  A  Jew  of  influence  and  education  declared  that  he 
was  led  to  embrace  Christianity  in  a  manner  that  resem¬ 
bles  Dr.  Cappadose’s  account  of  his  change.  He  imme¬ 
diately  renounced  the  world,  and  is  now  in  a  monastery 
at  Sienna,  where  he  occasionally  preaches. 

On  the  forenoon  of  Monday  (April  29),  we  visited  an 
Eastern  Rabbi,  named  Bolaffi,  whose  acquaintance  we 
had  made  on  Saturday.  He  was  seated  on  a  sofa  in  the 
Eastern  fashion.  His  dress  was  that  of  the  East — his 
appearance  imposing,  and  his  action  and  elocution  were 
very  striking.  We  found  him  frank,  intelligent,  and 
learned.  He  liked  better,  however,  to  speak  on  general 
subjects  than  on  religion ;  but  at  length  did  enter  into 
some  religious  discussion.  We  spoke  of  the  nature  of 
Messiah.  Bolaffi  said,  “  He  is  to  be  a  king,  and  a  pro¬ 
phet,  but  not  a  priest.”  We  quoted  Psalm  cx.  He  de¬ 
nied  that  to  be  spoken  of  Messiah ;  and  thought  that  Da¬ 
vid  was  meant.  We  maintained  his  divine  nature,  and 
among  other  passages  quoted  Isaiah  ix.  6.  He  admitted 
that  the  rendering  “  Mighty  God”  was  justified  by  the 
Hebrew,  but  evaded  the  application,  by  bidding  us  notice 
that  the  Prophet  says  only,  he  shall  be  “  named ”  so.  He 
argued  that  the  Protestants  ought  to  return  to  the  ob¬ 
servance  of  the  seventh  day  as  their  Sabbath,  because  the 
change  was  an  act  of  the  Romish  Church.  We  came 
back  to  more  vital  questions,  and  referred  to  Psalm  li., 
“  Purge  me  with  hyssop.”  He  got  away  from  this  by 
turning  his  remarks  to  nn  (ruach),  “  Spirit,”  arguing  that 
the  word  applied  even  to  beasts.  As  to  the  way  of  par 


*  Amos  ix.  IS 


26  LEGHORN — JEWISH  LIBRARY  AND  SCHOOL. 

don,  he  maintained  that  repentance  was  all  that  was 
needed,  quoting.  2d  Samuel,  where  David  said,  “  I  have 
sinned,”  and  Nathan  answered,  “  The  Lord  hath  put 
away  thy  sin.”*  He  had  read  the  New  Testament,  and 
his  knowledge  of  it  enabled  him  to  object  that  Christ  was 
not  Prince  of  peace,  because  he  himself  says,  “  I  am  not 
come  to  send  peace,  but  a  sword.”  He  contended  that 
the  Sabbath  should  be  so  kept  that  a  tire  ought  not  to  be 
lighted  on  that  day  even  in  Siberia.  At  parting,  he 
said,  “  Christians  shut  us  out  of  Paradise,  but  we  think 
that  all  who  do  good  works  may  enter,  whether  they  be 
Catholics,  Mahometans,  or  Protestants.”  Each  of  us  in 
turn  had  joined  in  the  conversation  ;  but  Dr.  Black  was 
the  chief  speaker,  being  able  to  use  the  Italian  language 
very  fluently. 

We  left  him  and  went  to  see  the  Jews’  Library.  Sev¬ 
eral  volumes  lay  open  on  the  table,  and  many  Jews  were 
in  the  room.  Those  present  vied  with  each  other  in 
showing  us  Hebrew  works  upon  geography,  mathema¬ 
tics,  and  the  sciences.  They  brought  out  a  Hebrew 
copy  of  Euclid ,  and  a  Hebrew  translation  of  Philo ,  and 
said  that  they  had  Josephus  also  translated  into  Hebrew. 
When  we  had  taken  a  sufficient  survey  of  their  books, 
they  led  us  to  their  School — a  large,  commodious  build¬ 
ing.  The  classes  are  arranged  after  the  Lancasterian 
plan,  and  there  is  a  regular  gradation  from  those  learn¬ 
ing  the  letters  and  the  sound  of  the  vowel-points,  to  those 
who  translate  Hebrew  into  Italian.  There  are  masters 
to  teach  drawing,  music,  history,  geography,  and  writ¬ 
ing.  English  and  French  are  given  in  the  upper  class¬ 
es.  Each  teacher  has  a  large  black  board,  and  the  al¬ 
phabet,  syllables,  vowel-points,  and  short  sentences  are 
taught  from  large  sheets  hung  up  on  the  wall,  exactly  as 
in  our  own  schools.  We  found  180  Jewish  boys  and  80 
girls  attending  the  school,  all  educated  free  of  expense. 
The  advanced  boys  and  girls  translated  Italian  into  He¬ 
brew,  and  vice  versa,  in  our  presence  with  great  fluency. 
The  young  men  in  the  Talmudical  class  read  and  trans¬ 
lated  the  1st  chapter  of  Isaiah  with  Aben  Ezra’s  Com¬ 
mentary.! 

Next  day  we  paid  Rabbi  Bolaffi  a  second  visit.  He 
was  affable  and  polite  as  before.  Six  or  eight  Jews  were 
present  in  the  room.  One  of  us  happening  to  sneeze,  he 
immediately  exclaimed,  “  Santa  !”  and  another  Jew  “  Fe- 


*  2  Sam.  xii.  13. 


t  See  Appendix,  No.  I. 


RABBIS  BOLAFFI  AND  PIPERNO. 


27 


liciti !”  that  is,  good  luck.  After  a  few  remarks  on  a 
book  which  he  had  in  his  hand,  he  stated  some  of  the 
objections  he  had  to  the  New  Testament.  They  were 
such  as  these  : — Paul  advised  a  man  to  remain  in  the  re¬ 
ligion  wherein  he  was  found,  whereas  he  himself  circum¬ 
cised  Timothy,  contrary  to  his  own  advice.  And 
again,  Timothy’s  mother  could  not  have  been  a  pious 
woman,  for  she  had  married  a  heathen.  Pie  told  us  he 
had  himself  written  against  Voltaire’s  works ;  and 
brought  out  a  map  to  show  us  the  absurdity  involved  in 
Voltaire’s  hypothesis  of  Israel  crossing  the  Red  Sea  at 
low  tide.  His  map  and  his  argument  were  alike  curious. 
We  brought  him  back  to  the  great  question.  He  ar¬ 
gued  that  a  man  is  free  in  his  will,  otherwise  he  could 
not  be  judged  for  sin  ;  and  asserted,  as  before,  that  re¬ 
pentance  is  the  method  of  procuring  pardon,  referring  to 
God’s  promise,  that  as  soon  as  the  seed  of  Israel  repent 
He  will  bring  them  home.  Another  of  his  objections  to 
the  New  Testament  was,  that  “  First-born ”  and  “  Son” 
to  which  terms  much  importance  is  there  attached,  are 
no  more  than  names  of  affection  among  the  Jews.  He 
understood  Zechariah’s  words,  “  The  man  that  is  my 
fellow,”  in  the  same  sense  ;  and  Micah  v.  2,  as  proving 
no  more  than  that  Messiah  was  to  be  of  David’s  line. 
We  said,  “  He  has  come  of  that  line.”  “  No  ;  even  the 
New  Testament  does  not  say  that  Christ’s  genealogy 
can  be  traced  to  David ;  it  only  gives  Joseph’s  line.” 
“  The  genealogies  were  fully  known  in  Christ’s  time, 
and  publicly  appealed  to  by  the  Evangelists.  Are  there 
any  in  existence  now  1”  “Yes;  there  are  some  who 
know  their  genealogy.”  “  Are  there  any  of  the  line  of 
David  now  known  ?”  He  replied  with  a  look  of  dignity, 
“  Io  sono” — “  I  am  one.”  Thus  ended  our  interview 
with  this  interesting  man.  He  is  a  fine  example  of  the 
Jewish  Rabbi;  a  subtle  sophist  in  argument, — deeply 
read  in  the  literature  of  the  Hebrews,  yet  so  ignorant  of 
general  knowledge,  that  he  soberly  estimated  his  nation 
now  scattered  through  the  earth  at  thirty  millions. 
After  leaving  him  we  sent  for  his  acceptance  several 
tracts,  such  as  “  The  City  of  Refuge,”  and  “  The  Life  of 
Cappadose,”  along  with  the  Italian  edition  of  Dr.  Keith’s 
work  on  Prophecy. 

In  the  evening  we  returned  to  the  library  to  meet  a 
polite,  active,  young  Rabbi,  Abraham  Piperno.  He 
showed  us  a  copy  of  Elias  Levita,  dated  1541,  and 
Zemach  David.  He  brought  out  a  Hebrew  copy  of 


28 


LEGHORN — JEWISH  BURYING  GROUND. 


Euclid ;  and  a  Hebrew  Encyclopaedia  in  five  volumes, 
some  of  its  articles  written  by  himself.  He  told  us  that 
they  have  three  printing  presses  in  Leghorn. 

In  the  course  of  conversation,  we  spoke  of  Isaiah  liii., 
and  Daniel  ix.  His  answers  were  very  brief,  and  con¬ 
sisted  of  little  more  than  a  reference  to  what  we  would 
find  in  a  book  called  “  hjidn  pm”  (hizzak  emunah),  “  De¬ 
fence  of  the  Faith.”  He  believes  in  the  restoration  of 
Israel  to  their  own  land.  He  was  not  aware  of  any 
Jews  from  Leghorn  having  gone  to  Palestine ;  but  Chan¬ 
cellor  Uzzielli  afterwards  told  us,  that  occasionally  some 
of  the  poor  and  illiterate  do  so  to  die  there,  believing 
that  thus  they  shall  escape  ‘purgatory. 

Returning  to  the  hotel,  another  Jew,  a  teacher 
of  music,  waited  upon  us,  bringing  with  him  a  servant, 
who  carried  for  his  master  a  heavy  MS.  It  turned  out 
to  be  a  work  written  by  himself  against  Voltaire  and  Vol- 
ney.  We  soon  began  to  see  that  he  had  some  selfish 
object  in  view,  and  that  he  was  more  anxious  to  sell  his 
MS.  than  to  buy  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus. 

Next  morning  we  visited  a  rich  merchant,  named  Ab- 
odram,  from  Spain,  with  whom  and  his  family,  Mr.  Neat, 
once  Jewish  missionary  here,  had  been  on  friendly 
terms.  He  had  heard  of  our  discussion  with  the  Rabbi, 
which  had  indeed  made  a  stir  throughout  the  Jewish 
quarter.  He  received  us  politely,  and  accepted  a  Span¬ 
ish  copy  of  Dr.  Keith’s  work,  but  did  not  seem  to  care 
much  about  the  object  of  our  journey. 

We  then  proceeded  to  the  Jewish  burying-ground, 
in"nnn'a  (beth  hahaim),  “house  of  the  living,”  as  we 
found  written  over  the  gate.  It  is  large  and  extensive, 
and  requires  to  be  so,  for  it  is  considered  unlawful  to 
lay  two  dead  bodies  in  the  same  grave.  It  is  a  bare, 
level  enclosure ;  no  cypresses  wave  over  the  tombs  ;  a 
few  goats  were  skipping  through  the  grass.  The  Jews 
are  compelled  by  law  to  bury  their  dead  either  in  the 
morning,  or  at  night  by  torch-light.  The  older  part  of 
the  burying-ground,  lying  toward  the  west,  is  full  of 
tombstones,  bearing  Spanish  inscriptions,  for  the  Jews 
of  Leghorn  came  originally  from  Spain.  With  some 
natural  pride,  they  point  out  not  a  few  of  these  monu¬ 
ments  having  a  coronet  graved  upon  them,  which  they 
believe  to  be  the  tombs  of  those  among  their  brethren 
who  were  Spanish  nobles.  Upon  some  of  the  tombs  are 
carved  hands  spread  out  to  bless — marking  the  grave 


JEWISH  EURYING-GROUND. 


29 


of  a  priest ;  upon  others  a  hand  pouring  water  out  of  a 
cup — marking  the  grave  of  a  Levite.  At  the  head  of  al¬ 
most  every  gravestone  are  these  expressive  letters,  nasun, 
that  is,  “  Let  his  soul  be  bound  up  in  the  bundle  of  life.” 

Some  of  the  monuments  are  truncated  pillars ,  which 
are  intended  to  point  out  the  grave  of  a  young  man  cut 
off  in  his  vigour.  One  Italian  inscription  runs  thus : 

UN  VERO  SAGGIO 

DELLA  GIOVENTU  DELLA  POVERTA 
FORTE  SOSTEGNO 

ISACCO  FRANCHETTI 

aui  RIPOSA. 

O  GENTI,  PIANGETE  LO,  IMITATE  LO. 
MORE  DI  A.  LXX.  IL  DE  XXX  APRILE 

di  1832. 

i.  e.  one  truly  wise,  the  firm  stay 
of  poverty,  lies  here.  Lament  him 
— imitate  him,  Sic. 

On  the  other  side,  the  Hebrew  begins  thus :  “  This  is  the 
peaceful  rest  of  Signore  Isaac  Franchetti,”  &c. 

On  another  grave  at  the  east  end  of  the  burying- 
ground,  are  these  simple  words  in  Hebrew :  “  Funeral 
Pillar.  The  pleasant  girl  of  Signora  Reigna  Andricas,  a 
child  of  12  years  of  age,  died,”  &c. 

Another  epitaph,  probably  over  a  rabbi,  runs  thus : 

rrox  fiD^n  hy  vru 
-i2y  tsnj:>  rmn  'hy  no 
-|trn  -tin  >by  nu 

“  Lament  over  wisdom,  which  is  perished  ; 

Lament  over  the  law,  which  is  a  clod  of  dust ; 

Lament  over  light,  which  is  darkened,”  &c. 

In  our  way  home,  an  opportunity  occurred  of  calling 
upon  a  Rabbi  from  Barbary,  who  had  a  large  collection 
of  Hebrew  books.  Most  of  them  were  commentaries  of 
obscure  Jews,  and  not  in  good  condition.  His  wife  wore 
the  high,  sugar-loaf  cap  peculiar  to  the  Barbary  Jew¬ 
esses.  ^  The  Jew  who  accompanied  us  showed  us  a 

5 


30 


LEGHORN— -JEWISH  POLITY. 


Hebrew  MS.,  which  he  says  is  prohibited  by  tne 
Rabbis,  containing  the  theory  that,  when  Christ  comes 
again  he  will  be  a  Messiah.  We  had  some  reason  to 
suspect  that  this  was  an  imposture,  and  did  not  pur¬ 
chase  it. 

The  Chancellor  Uzzielli  very  kindly  called  upon  us, 
and  gave  us  information  regarding  the  civil  affairs  of  the 
Jews.  Of  such  importance  are  the  Jews  here,  that  their 
feasts  are  marked  in  the  Almanac,  and  if  a  bill  falls  due 
on  any  of  these  days,  they  are  not  required  to  pay  on 
that  day.  They  are  governed  as  a  community  or  cor¬ 
poration  by  forty  men,  called  “  Elders.”  These  Elders 
manage  any  assessment  laid  on  the  nation  by  govern¬ 
ment,  gathering  it  from  their  brethren  in  equable  propor¬ 
tions.  They  also  manage  cases  of  divorce,  which  are 
not  frequent.  Napoleon  allowed  polygamy  among  them, 
but  it  is  a  thing  unknown  in  their  community.  The 
office  of  elder  is  hereditary  in  certain  families  ;  and  when 
a  vacancy  occurs,  they  select  two  individuals,  and  pre¬ 
sent  their  names  to  the  Grand  Duke,  who  chooses  one 
of  the  two  thus  nominated. 

The  Jews  of  Leghorn  send  about  £800  to  Palestine 
every  year.  This  sum  is  gathered  in  the  boxes  at  the 
synagogue  doors,  and  sent  to  the  four  holy  cities,  Jeru¬ 
salem,  Hebron,  Saphet,  and  Tiberias,  sometimes  by  in¬ 
dividuals  going  to  Palestine,  but  more  frequently  through 
their  mercantile  correspondents  at  Constantinople, 
where  there  is  an  agency  appointed  to  manage  such 
sums  sent  from  any  part  of  the  world.  The  Jews  in 
Leghorn  believe  in  the  restoration  of  their  nation  to  the 
Holy  Land ;  but,  added  the  Chancellor,  it  is  “ piu  creden- 
za ,  che  desiderio ,”  “  more  a  belief  of  the  head,  than  a  de¬ 
sire  of  the  heart.” 

A  Jew  who  had  been  our  guide,  Jacob  Mossias,  in 
prospect  of  our  departure,  asked  us  to  give  him  a  He¬ 
brew  New  Testament,  which  we  did,  along  with  some 
tracts.  We  bought  several  books  from  him ;  among 
others,  Abarbinel  on  the  Passover,  containing  a  Jew 
ish  map  of  Palestine,  and  some  singular  Jewish  wood- 
cuts. 

“  Come  from  the  four  winds,  O  breath,  and  breathe 
upon  these  slain,  that  they  may  live.”* 

We  had  now  taken  our  passage  for  Malta,  and  were  pre¬ 
paring  to  sail  next  day,  when  all  were  summoned  to  appear 


*  Ezek.  xxxvii.  9. 


POPISH  ALARM  AT  THE  LIGHT. 


31 


before  the  Police  to  receive  the  sentence  passed  upon  us 
and  our  books.  The  Censor  had  examined  and  con¬ 
demned  our  books.  The  two  elder  brethren  were  there¬ 
fore  commanded  to  leave  Tuscany  without  delay;  the 
two  younger,  being  supposed  to  act  under  their  direc¬ 
tion,  were  not  commanded  but  requested  to  do  the  same. 
Many  of  our  tracts  were  restored  to  us,  but  all  the  copies 
of  Dr.  Keith’s  work  on  Prophecy  were  detained;  because 
it  contained  interpretations  opposed  to  those  of  the 
Church  of  Rome.  And  thus  we  were  dismissed.  We 
afterwards  learned  that  a.  sentence  of  perpetual  banish¬ 
ment  from  Tuscany  had  been  pronounced  against  us  all 
— a  sentence  we  could  easily  bear,  but  one  that  proves 
Popery  to  be  still  the  silencer  of  the  witnesses,  and  the 
deadly  enemy  of  the  truth. 

The  Jews  were  considerably  interested  in  our  case ;  and 
perhaps  it  was  permitted  in  order  to  show  them  that 
Popery  is  equally  the  enemy  of  Protestantism  and  of 
Israel.  The  return  of  the  Jews  and  the  fall  of  Popery 
are  two  events  that  seem  intimately  connected  in  pro¬ 
phecy.  It  was  therefore  well  ordered  that,  in  seeking 
the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel,  we  should  meet 
with  treatment  at  the  hand  of  their  oppressors,  fitted  to 
awaken  in  us  the  cry,  “How  long,  O  Lord.”* 

On  calmly  reviewing  all  that  we  had  seen  of  Israel  in 
France  and  Italy,  and  considering  what  might  be  done 
to  carry  the  gospel  to  them,  we  came  to  the  following 
conclusions. 

In  France,  the  state  of  the  Jews  seems  to  call  for  the 
labours  of  an  evangelist  or  itinerant  Missionary,  for  the 
Jews  are  not  gathered  together  in  great  numbers  in  any 
one  town,  but  distributed  among  many.  Such  a  Mis¬ 
sionary  would  not  require  a  great  knowledge  of  the 
Talmud  and  of  Jewish  learning  as  in  other  countries, 
but  rather  a  mind  capable  of  grappling  with  the  sophisms 
of  infidelity ;  above  all,  the  power  of  simply  and  affec¬ 
tionately  urging  the  gospel  upon  them.  Having  the 
command  of  the  French  and  Hebrew  languages,  he 
might  be  an  eminent  blessing  to  the  Jews  scattered  over 
the  towns  of  France. 

With  regard  to  Italy,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  Leg¬ 
horn  affords  the  most  promising  station.  The  Jews  are 


*  Ps.  Ixxxix.  46 ;  Rev.  vi.  10. 


32 


VOYAGE  TO  MALTA — ELBA. 


more  numerous  there  than  in  any  other  Italian  town,  and 
it  seems  probable  that  the  government  would  not  interfere 
with  the  labours  of  a  prudent  Missionary,  if  these  were 
confined  to  Jews  and  Protestants.  It  appears  as  if  God 
had  shut  the  door  upon  our  efforts  to  carry  the  gospel 
to  the  poor  blinded  Papist,  but  left  the  door  open  to 
carry  the  message  of  mercy  to  the  poor  despised  Jew. 
If  our  Church  were  to  maintain  a  Chaplain  for  the  benefit 
of  our  own  fellow-countrymen  resident  in  Leghorn, — a 
measure  which  would  be  hailed  with  delight  by  many  Pres¬ 
byterian  families  there,  who  sigh  for  the  privilege  of  pure 
gospel  ordinances  administered  in  the  same  form  as  in 
their  native  land, — it  occurred  to  us  all  that  this  labourer 
might  also  turn  his  efforts  toward  the  Jews.  If  he  were 
to  become  intimately  acquainted  with  the  Jewish  fami¬ 
lies,  which  he  could  easily  do,  he  might,  by  the  blessing 
of  God,  carry  the  sweet  savour  of  Christ  into  many  a 
domestic  circle  of  Israel,  in  that  land  of  the  shadow  of 
death. 

In  the  afternoon  of  Friday  (May  3),  we  embarked  in 
the  Lycurge  for  Malta,  our  kind  friends  accompanying 
us  to  the  boat.  Upon  the  deck  of  the  vessel  we  met 
with  individuals  from  many  various  nations.  Besides 
French,  English,  and  Italians,  there  were  an  American 
traveller,  a  German,  and  a  young  Greek,  known  by  his 
horizontal  moustache  and  the  fantastic  dress  of  his  native 
mountains,  full  of  spirit,  and  proud  of  his  liberated 
country.  In  addition  to  these,  we  had  the  newly  ap¬ 
pointed  Bishop  of  Tripoli,  of  the  Graeco-Romish  church 
in  Syria,  a  mild-looking  man,  with  very  fine  long  hair, 
beard  and  moustache,  marked  features,  and  a  pleasing 
expression,  dressed  in  a  brown  mantle  over  a  red  gown, 
with  a  purple  sash,  gold  chain,  and  cross.  Two 
younger  priests  and  a  servant  accompanied  him,  all 
of  the  same  pleasing  appearance.  We  had  also  several 
soldiers  on  board,  a  Romish  priest,  several  monks,  and 
three  veiled  nuns  from  Spain,  all  on  their  way  to 
Rome. 

We  sailed  over  a  calm  unruffled  sea,  and  passing  the 
small  island  of  Gorgonna ,  coasted  the  more  celebrated 
Elba.  A  white  cloud  was  leaning  on  its  heights  as  we 
passed.  Had  Napoleon  never  been  there,  that  island 
might  often  have  been  seen  with  no  more  notice  than  an 
inquiry,  What  is  its  name  I  Now,  however,  every  eye 


CIVITA  VECCHIA — POPERY. 


33 


gazes  on  it  with  interest  as  the  vessel  passes  by.  Form¬ 
erly  it  was  known  for  its  mines,  of  which  Virgil  sings — 

“  Ilva 

Insula  inexhaustis  Chalybum  generosa  metallis 

(“  The  rugged  Ilva, 

Rich  in  her  endless  beds  of  steely  ore.”) 

A  devout  superstitious  Roman  Catholic,  come  from 
Holland  on  a  pilgrimage  to  Rome,  entered  into  discus¬ 
sion  with  us.  His  pronunciation  of  Latin  nearly  agreed 
with  ours,  so  that  we  were  able  to  converse  freely  till 
night  separated  us.  We  spoke  also  with  one  of  the 
monks  from  a  Spanish  monastery,  and  found  him  a  most 
bigoted,  ignorant  devotee.  The  party  from  Syria  spoke 
Arabic  and  a  very  little  Italian,  so  that  our  intercourse 
was  limited  though  interesting.  The  bishop  accepted 
from  us  a  very  small  Italian  New  Testament,  raising  his 
eyebrows  in  astonishment  that  the  whole  could  be  com¬ 
prised  in  so  small  a  compass.  But  when  we  told  him 
that  in  our  country  we  were  Bishops,  his  wonder  almost 
amounted  to  incredulity,  as  he  eyed  us  from  head  to 
foot,  observing  the  youthful  countenances  of  some  of  us, 
and  our  simple  attire.  The  young  Greek  spoke  freely 
with  us  in  Italian.  He  is  employed  as  a  guide  to  lead 
travellers  through  the  scenes  of  ancient  history  in  his 
native  country.  Full  of  vivacity,  his  tongue  seemed 
never  to  rest,  but  was  either  singing  the  songs  or  de¬ 
scribing  the  romantic  scenes  of  Greece  till  night  came 
down.  Then  he  spread  out  his  mat  on  the  deck,  and 
after  going  through  his  evening  devotions,  wrapped  him¬ 
self  up  in  his  rough,  shaggy  capote,  and  resigned  himself 
to  repose. 

When  next  morning  dawned,  we  found  ourselves  not 
far  from  Civita  Vecchia,  where  we  anchored  for  two 
hours.  We  landed  and  rambled  through  the  town. 
The  country  round  appeared  to  be  very  desolate  and 
mostly  uncultivated.  The  town  itself  is  wretched  in  the 
extreme,  and  the  streets  are  gloomy  and  dull ;  the  only 
objects  to  attract  the  eye  being  the  carts  in  the  market 
drawn  by  oxen,  and  the  cross  surmounting  every 
dwelling. 

Entering  a  bookseller’s  shop,  we  purchased  several 
Popish  Catechisms  and  Tracts,  believing  that  we  would 
here  find  a  specimen  of  Popery  undisguised.  We  were 
not  deceived  in  our  expectation.  In  one  of  the  cate- 

LEn.  x.  173 

5* 


34 


VOYAGE  TO  MALTA — GOZO. 


chisms,  the  second  commandment  is  altogether  excluded, 
while  prayers  to  saints  and  directions  as  to  the  worship 
of  the  Virgin,  are  given  at  full  length.  We  next  wan¬ 
dered  into  'an  open  church,  and  after  examining  the 
usual  crucifixes,  paintings,  altar-pieces,  and  confessionals, 
found  our  way  into  a  curious  side-room,  or  rather  vault, 
a  mortuary  adorned  with  human  skulls.  In  the  niches 
round  stood  skeletons,  some  of  which  held  a  cross  in 
their  bony  hands,  others  a  scythe  and  hour-glass.  Mot¬ 
toes  such  as  these  were  affixed,  “  Aspice  in  me  et  mise¬ 
rere  mei — Breves  dies  hominis  sunf  ’  (Behold  and  pity 
me — Few  are  the  days  of  man.)  These  are  meant  to 
excite  spectators  to  pray  for  the  dead.  Another  skeleton 
had  this  motto,  “  Expecto  donee  venerit  immutatio  mea ” 
(I  wait  till  my  change  come.)  Another  referred  to  pur¬ 
gatory,  “  Non  exibis  inde  donee  red, das  novissimum  quad - 
rantem' ’  (Thou  shalt  not  come  out  hence  until  thou  pay 
the  utmost  farthing.)  One  in  particular  drew  our  atten¬ 
tion.  The  skeleton  fingers  held  a  bag  open  for  any  visi¬ 
tor  to  drop  in  money,  and  over  it  was  written,  “  Elemo- 
sina  por  i  poveri  morti  di  campagna ”  (Alms  for  the  poor 
dead  of  the  country.) 

This  town  is  the  “  Centum  Celled'  mentioned  by  Pliny,* 
and  was  in  his  day  a  port  of  Etruria. 

Re-embarking,  we  soon  lost  sight  of  the  Italian  shore. 
Next  day  was  the  Sabbath,  a  silent  Sabbath,  far  from 
the  assemblies  of  God’s  worshippers. 

(May  6.)  No  land  appeared  till  Monday  morning,  when 
we  obtained  a  distant  view  of  Sicily.  Mount  Eryx 
might  be  one  of  the  heights  we  saw.  At  all  events,  we 
were  now  viewing  hills  of  which  we  used  to  read  in  our 
earlier  days, 

“  Mille  meae  Siculis  errant  in  montibus  agnac  ;”t 
(My  thousand  lambs  roam  the  Sicilian  hills ;) 

and  were  traversing  the  very  sea  of  which  Horace  sang 
in  all  the  pride  of  a  Roman  citizen,  when  he  looked  on 
its  dashing  waves. 

“  Nec  dirum  Hannibalem,  nec  Siculum  mare, 

Pceno  purpureum  sanguine.”  X 

(Nor  dreaded  Hannibal,  nor  the  Sicilian  Sea 

Dyed  red  with  Punic  blood.) 

By  sunset  the  same  evening  we  came  in  sight  of  Gozo, 
rocky  and  steep,  and  as  we  looked  round  upon  the  blue 

*  Epist.  vi.  31.  t  Virg.  Eclog.  2,  21.  t  Od.  ii.  12,  2. 


ISLAND  OP  MALTA — VALETTA. 


85 


waters,  without  a  bound  but  the  horizon,  remem¬ 
bered  Paul,  having  no  doubt  that  this  is  the  part  of 
the  sea  at  the  mouth  of  the  Adriatic  on  which  he  was 
tossed. 

About  ten  in  the  evening,  we  drew  near  Malta ,  and 
soon  sailed  far  up  into  the  splendid  harbour  of  Valetta, 
formed  by  one  of  the  creeks  in  which  the  island  abounds. 
We  cast  anchor  in  the  smooth  deep  water,  near  some 
of  the  ships  of  war  stationed  here.  The  lights  twinkling 
on  the  heights  showed  the  direction  of  the  town,  while 
the  solemn  bells  tolled  the  hours  of  night.  A  small  boat 
came  alongside,  and  a  voice  hailed  us  in  English.  It 
was  some  individual  who  held  office  in  the  place.  He 
.  inquired  if  we  were  all  “ en  pratique”  i.  e.  free  from 
plague, — if  we  had  brought  any  news, — and  if  there  were 
any  individuals  of  rank  on  board. 

Sitting  on  deck,  and  feeling  joy  and  gratitude  at  being 
thus  far  brought  on  our  way,  we  remembered  that  this 
island  once  sent  up  its  hymn  of  thanksgiving,  when  Paul, 
and  Luke,  and  Aristarchus  stood  on  its  shore  and  praised 
their  Deliverer.  Perhaps  they  sang  Psalm  cvii.  23 — 30. 
Whether  or  not  the  spot  pointed  out  on  the  other  side  of 
the  island  be  the  real  place  of  Paul’s  shipwreck,  it  is  diffi¬ 
cult  to  say ;  but  certainly  many  spots,  and  the  harbour 
of  Valetta  among  the  rest,  correspond  to  the  brief  de¬ 
scription  given,  Acts  xxvii.  39,  “  ko'Xttov  61  nva  koltcvoovv  'ixovTOL 
aiyiaXov ”  (a  certain  creek  with  a  shore). 

Early  on  the  Tuesday  morning  (May  7),  we  disem¬ 
barked  amid  tumult  and  confusion  that  baffles  descrip¬ 
tion,  arising  from  the  greedy  anxiety  of  porters  and  mise¬ 
rable-looking  beggars,  all  striving  to  the  utmost  to  obtain 
a  pittance  by  seizing  on  the  luggage  of  strangers.  Va¬ 
letta  is  certainly  a  singularly-built  town.  Several  of  the 
streets  are  little  else  than  so  many  flights  of  steps,  steep 
and  slippery ;  yet  up  these  the  mule  can  climb  with  ease, 
a  feat  that  no  horse  in  our  country  could  accomplish. 
The  heat  was  very  great,  so  that  we  were  quite  oppress¬ 
ed  by  walking  under  a  burning  sun.  Strangers  from 
every  country  under  heaven  seem  to  meet  here ; — the 
Greek  gracefully  attired,  and  the  turbaned  Turk the 
dismal  priest,  and  the  monk  with  shaven  crown Eng¬ 
lish  sailors  next,  and  then  an  English  officer;— the  Mal¬ 
tese  peasant  with  ornamented  vest,  and  girdle  round  the 
waist;  and  then  the  Maltese  lady  wearing  the  onella 
(perhaps  a  remnant  of  the  eastern  veil),  a  black  silk 


36 


MALTA— -JEWS — MR.  FREEMANTLE. 


scarf  drawn  over  the  head,  forming  an  arch,  which  ro* 
veals  the  face  half  in  the  shade. 


The  state  of  morals  is  fearfully  corrupt  all  over  the 
island.  The  natives  are  proverbially  deceitful  and  ava¬ 
ricious.  They  possess  lively  passions,  and  are  tenacious 
in  their  love  and  in  their  hatred.  Popery  is  their  curse  ; 
churches  and  priests  abound ;  and  our  government  has 
hitherto  done  too  much  to  countenance  the  Man  of  Sin 
in  Malta,  dueen  Adelaide’s  Protestant  church  had  not 
yet  risen  above  its  foundation. 

In  Malta  there  are  very  few  Jews,  and  those  few  move 
from  place  to  place :  not  many  have  wealth,  and  most 
of  them  are  wretchedly  poor.  There  is  one  convert  em¬ 
ployed  in  the  printing  establishment  of  the  Church  of 
England  Society’s  Mission. 

We  called  on  Mr.  Schlienz,  of  the  Church  of  England 
Missionary  Society,  from  whom  we  received  useful  infor¬ 
mation  ;  and  at  the  quarantine  station  we  conversed  with 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Freemantle,  a  minister  of  the  Church  of  Eng¬ 
land,  who,  with  his  wife,  had  just  returned  from  Palestine. 
They  had  travelled  by  way  of  Cairo  to  Mount  Sinai,  and 


SAIL  FOR  ALEXANDRIA. 


37 


thence  to  Jerusalem.  He  told  us  that  we  would  find  far 
fewer  Jews  in  the  Holy  Land  than  is  generally  reported ; 
and  all  of  them  poor  and  wretched.  He  stated  that  the 
fearful  corruptions  of  the  professedly  Christian  churches 
in  those  countries  are  the  most  effectual  stumbling- 
blocks  to  the  Jew,  and  that  the  exhibition  of  a  pure  and 
holy  faith  would  probably  be  one  of  the  chief  advantages 
of  building  an  English  Protestant  Church  upon  Mount 
Zion. 

Riding  out  in  the  evening  to  St.  Julian,  a  village  some 
few  miles  distant  from  Valetta,  to  visit  Dr.  Clarke,  who 
once  laboured  among  the  Jews,  we  had  an  opportunity 
of  seeing  a  little  of  the  scenery  of  the  island  and  the  man¬ 
ners  of  its  people.  The  conduct eur  of  our  vehicle,  in¬ 
stead  of  riding,  ran  all  the  way  by  the  side  of  the  mule, 
urging  it  on  by  his  voice,  and  setting  an  example  by  his 
own  indefatigable  speed.  No  road  could  be  more  irre¬ 
gular,  and  it  is  impossible  that  it  should  be  otherwise, 
for  the  shore  is  indented  every  few  miles  with  inlets  of 
the  sea,  round  which  you  must  wind  your  way.  Often 
it  became  steep  and  narrow ;  and  often  it  was  made  of 
solid  rock.  We  noticed  the  beautiful  appearance  of  the 
western  sky  at  sunset  for  which  the  island  is  remark¬ 
able.  The  rocks  and  buildings  appeared  to  be  tinged 
with  a  yellowish  pearly  lustre,  which  added  a  singular 
beauty  to  every  object  in  the  scene. 

We  required  to  be  ready  to  sail  early  next  morning  in 
the  French  steamer  “Eurotas”  for  Alexandria;  and 
though  the  tardiness  and  greediness  of  porters  and  boat¬ 
men  very  nearly  disappointed  us  of  our  passage,  we  at 
length  succeeded  in  getting  off.  It  was  a  bright  and 
beautiful  morning  when  we  sailed  from  the  quarantine 
harbour.  Occasionally  the  reflection  of  the  sun’s  rays 
from  the  smooth  surface  of  a  bending  wave  was  like  the 
gleam  from  a  mirror ;  and  the  playful  glance  of  the  beams 
on  this  splendid  sea,  brought  to  our  mind  the  expression, 

.....“  ttovtiwv  ts  Kv/xarcov 
’ AvfipiO/xov  ycXaajxa,^ 

(The  countless  playful  smiles 
Of  ocean’s  waves,) 

which  Aeschylus*  used  in  regard  to  those  very  waters  as 
they  laved  the  shores  of  Greece.  A  few  small  white 
clouds  appeared  in  the  horizon,  but  not  a  speck  in  the 
sky  above  us.  Malta  was  out  of  sight  in  a  few  hours, 

*  Prom.  Vinct.  89, 


38  VOYAGE  TO  ALEXANDRIA — COAST  OF  GREECE. 

and  during  the  rest  of  the  day  we  saw  nothing  but  fields 
of  level  water. 

At  evening,  the  few  clouds  on  the  horizon  seemed  like 
the  hills  on  some  distant  land.  There  was  no  peculiar 
beauty  in  the  sunset — only  the  sun  himself  appeared  re¬ 
markably  brilliant, 

“Not  as  in  northern  climes  obscurely  bright, 

But  one  unclouded  blaze  of  living  light.1’ 

The  swallows  kept  flying  about  the  vessel  till  darkness 
came  on ;  and  then  the  stars  shone  out  singularly  bright. 
The  planet  Venus  was  reflected  on  the  water  quite  like 
the  Moon  in  brilliancy. 

Coming  down  to  the  cabin,  the  young  American  tra¬ 
veller  described  to  us  some  of  the  scenes  which  he  had 
witnessed  at  Rome  during  Passion-week.  He  told  us 
of  the  Pope  blessing  150,000  people,  all  kneeling  before 
him*  in  the  great  square  of  St.  Peter’s,  and  of  his  riding 
into  the  city  in  imitation  of  Christ’s  entry  into  Jerusalem. 

The  night  was  perfectly  serene.  We  experienced 
nothing  of  the 

“  Dux  inquieti  turbidus  Adrioe  ;”+ 

(The  blustering  south  wind  swraying  Adria’s  waves ;) 

though  we  were  passing  over  its  waters,  or  at  least  over 
the  “ . Ionium  mare”  where  it  joins  the  Adriatic.  All  the 
next  day,  the  sea  presented  the  same  glassy  smoothness. 
Two  vessels  on  the  distant  horizon  were  lying  quite 
motionless,  there  being  not  a  breath  of  wind.  The  Greek 
sung  many  of  his  national  war-songs,  and  his  patriotism 
seemed  to  rise  higher  and  higher  as  we  sailed  towards 
his  country. 

Next  morning  (May  10)  about  sunrise,  we  came  in 
sight  of  Greece,  opposite  Cape  Gallo  (the  ancient  Acritas). 
Crossing  the  Gulf  of  Coron  (anciently  the  Sinus  Mes- 
seniacus ),  we  sailed  slowly  past  Cape  Matapan  (the  an¬ 
cient  Tcenarus ),  where  the  cloudcapt  hills  of  Laconia 
terminate.  These  hills  form  the  range  of  Taygelus — 

. “  virginibus  bacchata  Lacaenis 

Taygeta:”t 

(Where  Lacedemon’s  virgins  kept  their  revelry :) 

and  the  cape  is  the  most  southern  point  of  Europe  ;  the 
“  invisi  horrida  Ta>nari  sedes”\  (the  seat  of  hateful  Tcena¬ 
rus),  of  which  we  used  to  read  in  the  classics.  The 
young  Greek  guide  proudly  pointed  to  the  mountain 
range  as  the  seat  of  the  un conquered  Mainotes,  and  to 

*  2  Thess.  ii.  4.  +  Hor.  Ode  iii.  3,  5. 

t  Virg  Georg,  ii.  488.  $  Hor.  Ode  i.  34,  10. 


ISLANDS  OF  GREECE — SYRA. 


39 


the  far  distant  hills  at  the  top  of  the  gulf  (the  Sinus  La- 
conicus )  as  marking  where  Sparta  stood.  Many  of  the 
summits  were  capped  with  snow.  The  heights  of  Taena- 
rus  were  obscured  by  morning  clouds — while  their  bases 
reached  down  to  the  water  edge.  Through  the  glass  we 
could  descry  many  hanging  villages  with  terraced  fields 
and  gardens. 

Passing  the  island  of  Elaphonesia  and  Cerigo  (the  an¬ 
cient  Cythera),  and  the  promontory  Malea,  we  entered 
the  vEgean  Sea.  The  numberless  islands  of  the  Archipe¬ 
lago  now  came  in  view  one  after  another.  We  remem¬ 
bered  that  the  Psalmist  spoke  of  all  this  great  sea,  and 
may  have  known  something  of  the  islands  and  countries 
which  it  washes.  The  expression  appeared  very  appro¬ 
priate,  “this  great  and  wide  sea,”*  or  more  literally,  “  this 
great  sea  which  is  broad  in  its  arms ”  (d'v  :m  rehav 
yadairn),  an  epithet  which  seems  to  refer  to  the  waters 
clasping  round  these  innumerable  islands,  and  pouring 
themselves  into  these  thousand  creeks  and  bays. 

Our  first  sight  of  those  beautiful  islands,  and  the  whole 
of  their  appearance  afterwards,  under  so  bright  a  sky, 
made  us  understand  the  language  of  the  Latin  poet,  “m- 
tentes  Cycladas”  f  (bright-shining  Cyclades).  Nor  is 
Virgil’s  description  of  this  sea  less  accurate, — “  crebris 
freta  consita  terris”  \  (liquid  fields  sown  thick  with 
countless  isles). 

Our  vessel  was  now  directing  its  course  north-east  for 
the  island  of  Syra,  the  ancient  Syros.  At  a  distance, 
Spezzia  was  pointed  out  to  us,  and  a  little  farther  off 
rose  Hydra,  famous  in  the  warfare  of  modern  Greece, 
reminding  us  of  our  own  Bass  Rock.  Next  we  passed 
near  Falconero,  an  uninhabited  rocky  islet.  Melos  and 
Anti-melos  then  came  in  sight ;  the  former  a  large  island 
with  a  fine  harbour,  and  marked  by  two  lofty  hills.;  the 
latter  bold  and  precipitous,  descending  steep  into  the 
water.  Far  to  the  south  we  saw  Dipsis,  almost  a  bare 
rock,  and  toward  evening  Seriphos.  The  sun  seemed 
to  sink  down  behind  Falconero,  leaving  a  calm  sea  and 
a  beautifully  spotted  sky  behind,  tinging  all  the  western 
horizon  with  a  glorious  red. 

At  two  next  morning  (Saturday,  May  11),  we  cast  an¬ 
chor  before  the  town  of  Syra.  The  coast  of  the  island 
forms  a  natural  harbour.  The  town  rises  up  from  the 
shore,  and  seems  entirely  to  cover  the  conical  hill  on 
which  it  is  built.  The  castle  or  Acropolis  is  on  the  top, 

*  Ps.  civ.  25.  t  Hor.  Ode  i.  14,  20.  1  JE n.  iii.  127. 


40 


SYRA — POPULATION — LANGUAGE. 


keeping  watch  over  houses  that  seem  to  creep  up  the 
hill  toward  the  Acropolis  for  shelter.  All  the  buildings 
are  of  a  dazzling  whiteness,  and  the  hills  around  green 
with  olives.  We  could  imagine  ourselves  riding  in  the 
harbour  of  one  of  the  ancient  cities  of  Greece,  the  town 
smiling  below,  and  the  Acropolis  frowning  defiance  from 
above.  The  chief  town  of  Syra  was  anciently  called 
Hermopolis,  and  the  books  printed  here  by  the  Church 
of  England  Missionary  Society  bore  this  name  on  the 
title-page.  It  was  a  place  of  little  consequence  till  some 
of  the  Sciotes  who  escaped  the  massacre  in  which  their 
brethren  perished,  fixed  on  it  as  their  residence;  but 
since  the  settlement  of  the  new  kingdom  of  Greece,  and 
especially  during  the  last  fifteen  years,  it  has  rapidly  in¬ 
creased. 

The  mail-packets  of  the  French  and  Austrian  compa¬ 
nies  use  Syra  as  their  station,  and  from  this  place  vessels 
are  ready  to  carry  the  traveller  to  Athens,  Egypt,  and 
Constantinople.  We  witnessed  much  activity  in  the 
harbour,  boats  loading  and  unloading.  The  water  was 
so  clear  that  we  could  see  the  pebbles  at  the  bottom.  In 
the  docks  we  counted  thirteen  small  vessels  on  the 
stocks.  The  town  has  a  population  of  20,000.  A  hardy 
Greek  rowed  us  to  the  shore,  when,  after  being  exam¬ 
ined  by  the  Board  of  Health,  we  found  our  way  to  the 
“  Hotel  de  Grece,”  or  “  e svoSoxaov  EXXa<5of”  (the  Greek 
inn).  It  was  a  wretched  inn,  but  the  people  were  anxious 
to  show  us  every  kindness.  Instead  of  butter  they 
brought  us  Grecian  honey. 

In  walking  through  the  streets  it  was  interesting  to 
find  the  language  of  ancient  Greece  moulded  to  express 
modern  inventions.  There  was  the  “  Bao-Autoy  tpopziov 
Svpas”  “the  Royal  Post-office  of  Syra;”  and  again,  a 
board,  marking  the  sailing  of  the  steamers,  was  headed 
by  the  word  “  ArporaxwXoia.”  We  met  asses  carry¬ 
ing  in  panniers  the  ancient  a^opa,  a  two-handled  jug. 
A  little  child  came  begging  for  bread,  and  his  cry  was 
“  xpwpu,  (i.e.  bread).  We  came  upon  three  book¬ 

sellers’  shops,  in  one  of  wKich  we  found  “t<z  Savpama 
mpSavra  tov  Fo6ivawvog  Kpoucou,”  “  the  wonderful  adventures 
of  Robinson  Crusoe,”  with  a  recommendation  of  it  by 
some  of  our  countrymen :  —  “  o  n oXvpaQris  Xa\pspoS,  kcu 
TavXopoj,”  “  the  learned  Chalmers  and  Taylor.”  We 
saw  with  greater  joy  the  whole  Greek  Bible  for 
sale ;  though  beside  it  stood  one  of  Sir  Walter  Scott’s 
novels.  Occasionally  in  the  streets  tumblers  of 


SYRA — MISSIONARY  SCHOOLS. 


41 


clear  cool  water  set  in  rows  upon  a  marble  slab  for  sale, 
and  it  is  no  small  refreshment  in  such  a  climate  to  re¬ 
ceive  even  a  cup  of  cold  water.*  Looking  down  upon 
the  harbour  from  above,  the  white  cotton  sails  of  the 
small  vessels  seen  upon  the  deep  blue  sea  appeared  very 
beautiful. 

We  visited  Mr.  Hildner  of  the  Church  of  England 
Missionary  Society.  He  and  his  wife  are  Germans,  and 
have  laboured  here  nine  years.  Miss  Wilcox  had  lately 
joined  them,  her  department  being  to  teach  the  Grecian 
girls  English,  drawing,  singing,  and  needlework.  As 
yet  they  have  seen  little  fruit  in  the  conversion  of  souls, 
but  wait  for  it.  Their  efforts  have  been  confined  almost 
entirely  to  teaching  the  young :  in  *doing  which  they 
adopt  the  Lancasterian  system.  In  the  school-rooms, 
which  are  pleasantly  situated,  we  found  the  whole  appa¬ 
ratus  of  an  Infant  and  Juvenile  school.  On  the  walls 
were  boards  for  the  multiplication  table,  entitled  “  ihvaxss 
AptOnriTixai .”  Others  had  the  elementary  syllables,  n waxes 
“  Avayvwirews ;”  and  others  the  picture  of  some  object  of 
natural  history,  “a  icro?,”  “eagle:”  “o  vos,”  “  ass;”  “a  wo?,” 
“  wolf ;”  with  the  description  below.  There  were  pre¬ 
sent  300  boys  and  300  girls,  all  busily  engaged.  It 
was  curious  to  hear  the  boys  reading  the  Cyropedia 
in  ancient  Greek,  and  rendering  it  into  Romaic.  The 
girls  were  writing,  and  they  formed  the  Greek  let¬ 
ters  beautifully.  Some  of  them  were  learning  English. 
Young  Greeks  are  very  clever,  and  anxious  to  ac¬ 
quire  knowledge.  Want  of  perseverance  is  their  great¬ 
est  fault.  They  read  the  New  Testament  daily,  and 
almost  every  child  possesses  a  copy.  On  Sabbath  morn¬ 
ings,  after  they  have  been  at  the  Greek  church  with  their 
parents,  they  are  assembled  for  two  hours  in  the  school, 
learn  a  Bible  lesson,  and  are  addressed  by  the  Mission¬ 
ary  ;  but  many  do  not  attend,  as  the  parents  are  anxious 
only  about  their  temporal  welfare,  and  the  acquisition  of 
secular  knowledge.  The  American  Missionaries  at 
Athens  conduct  a^school  in  all  respects  similar  to  this, 
and  some  of  the  inferior  clergy  there,  who  seem  to  be 
pious  men,  take  an  interest  in  its  prosperity.  The  Lon¬ 
don  Society  maintains  a  similar  school  at  Corfu. 

This  visit  to  Syra  served  to  awaken  in  our  bosoms 
new  feelings  of  interest  in  behalf  of  Greece.  On  our  way 
back  to  the  harbour,  observing  the  rising  spire  of  a  new 

*  Matt.  x.  42. 

G 


42 


RE-EMBARK  FOR  ALEXANDRIA. 


building,  we  asked  what  it  was,  and  were  told  that  it  was 
a  Roman  Catholic  church.  Popery  seems  determined  to 
assert  her  right  to  the  name  of  Catholic ,  by  her  untired 
zeal  and  universal  enterprise. 

The  same  day  we  left  the  island  with  regret  in  the 
“  Leonidas,”  another  French  steamer,  which  was  to  con¬ 
vey  us  to  Alexandria.  On  leaving  the  harbour  we  saw 
the  hills  of  the  island  of  Negropont  (the  ancient  Eubcea), 
to  the  west ;  and  near  us  on  the  left  lay  Tinos.  Before 
us  were  Delos  and  Mycone ;  on  our  right  Andros  and 
Xiphos.  We  could  see  the  general  aspect  of  all  these 
islands.  Summer  clouds  rested  over  the  summits  of 
their  hills. 

On  board  our  new  vessel  we  found  a  change  of  com¬ 
pany,  several  passengers  having  been  waiting  at  Syra 
for  a  vessel  to  carry  them  to  Egypt.  Among  others  were 
four  Eastern  Jews,  and  a  tall  strong  Albanian,  who  spoke 
only  Romaic,  but  whose  gestures  were  as  significant  as 
language.  There  was  also  a  Turk,  of  a  mild  pleasing 
countenance,  and  his  wife  with  her  face  muffled  in  a 
white  veil. 

We  passed  by  Naxos,  with  its  town  of  the  same  name, 
of  a  marble  whiteness.  Opposite  to  it  lie  Paros  and  Ole- 
aros  *  We  stretched  our  eyes  in  the  direction  of  Icaria 
and  Naxos,  that  we  might  obtain  a  glimpse  of  highly- 
favoured  Patmos;  but  in  vain.  We  could  only  see  the 
weaves  that  were  rolling  on  to  break  upon  its  rocky  shore. 

About  sunset,  when  we  were  leaving  Naxos  and  Paros 
behind  us,  and  had  left  off  gazing  on  their  hills,  we  found 
the  four  Jewsf  seated  together,  finishing  their  Sabbath 
prayers.  At  the  moment  we  had  first  spoken  to  them, 
one  was  reading  Psalm  lxxxv.  1,  2,  “O  Lord,  thou  hast 
been  favourable  to  thy  land,”  &c.  They  told  Us  that 
they  had  come  from  the  Dardanelles,  and  were  now  on 
a  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem,  meaning  to  return  home  in 
the  course  of  three  months.  Two  of  them  were  men 
of  learning,  and  all  seemed  to  know  Hebrew  well. 
They  spoke  Spanish  with  each  other,  but  understood 
Italian.  In  order  to  gain  their  confidence,  and  engage 
their  attention,  one  of  our  number  brought  out  Abar- 
binel  on  the  Passover,  and  showed  them  its  map, 
vignettes,  and  figures.  At  the  foot  of  one  of  these 
pictures,  the  abbreviation  32m \  occurred;  at  another 

*  “  Olearon,  niveamque  Paron.” — Virg.  2En.  iii.  126. 

t  Their  names  were,  Solomon  Japhe,  Solomon  Peshuto,  Abraham 
Joseph,  and  the  mildest  and  most  simple  of  all,  Nasim  Paltiel. 

t  See  p.  24. 


INTERVIEW  WITH  FOUR  JEWS. 


43 


V3N .*  These  we  explained  to  their  great  surprise :  and 
when  one  of  us  added,  jdn  D'ids  uiuk  qj.  “We  too  use 
the  word  Amen  ” — they  looked  at  each  other,  and  began 
to  smile:  and  talk.  Our  friendship  was  now  established, 
and  opening  our  Hebrew  Bibles,  we  got  into  close  con¬ 
versation.  One  of  them,  at  our  request,  read  aloud 
Isaiah  liii,  and  then  listened  to  us,  when  we  applied  it  to 
the  atoning  Saviour.  On  telling  them  that  we  believed 
a  first  and  a  second  coming  of  Messiah,  they  spoke  of 
it  to  each  other,  but  made  no  remark  to  us.  A  little 
after  we  joined  them  again,  all  sitting  upon  the  deck. 
We  opened  out  a  map  of  their  country,  and  as  we 
pointed  to  the  most  remarkable  places,  named  them  in 
Hebrew.  We  had  in  our  hands  a  small  publication  of 
the  Tract  Society,  entitled  “ Manners  and  Customs  of 
the  Jevjs .”  In  explaining  to  them  some  of  the  wood- 
cuts,  we  took  occasion  to  let  them  know  that  we  were 
not  Roman  Catholics,  and  had  no  images  in  our  churches. 
Of  this  also  they  spoke  to  one  another.  A  little  after, 
opening  our  Italian  New  Testament,  we  read  the  quota¬ 
tion  from  Isaiah  in  Matt.  iv.  15,  16,  “  The  people  that  sat 
in  darkness,”  &c. — saying,  “The  great  Light  is  Mes¬ 
siah.”  One  of  them  replied,  “  We  believe  it  is.”  They 
continued  for  some  time  looking  at  the  pictures  in  the 
book  already  mentioned,  till  coming  to  a  representation 
of  Paul  preaching  to  the  Jews  from  the  stairs  of  the 
Temple, f  they  asked  what  it  was.  This  led  us  to  ex¬ 
plain,  and  again  taking  up  the  Italian  New  Testament, 
we  read  Paul’s  address.  Every  thing  in  the  passage 
was  suited  to  awaken  their  attention.  Paul’s  reference 
to  the  law,  to  his  sitting  at  Gamaliel’s  feet,  and  to  the 
traditions  of  the  fathers — the  people  keeping  silence  be¬ 
cause  he  spoke  in  Hebrew — and  then  the  full  narrative 
of  his  former  life,  and  his  conversion  to  Christ.  It 
seemed  a  message  directed  to  them  by  the  Lord,  and 
they  listened  with  deep  attention.  But  as  soon  as  it  was 
ended,  first  the  one  that  seemed  most  learned,  and  then 
another,  rose  and  left  us,  apparently  somewhat  dis¬ 
pleased.  Two  still  remained,  and  continued  to  examine 
the  other  pictures,  such  as  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  and 
the  Deluge,  which  afforded  us  further  opportunity  of 
speaking  to  them.  Observing  one  of  Peter  and  John 
healing  the  man  at  the  Beautiful  Gate  of  the  Temple, 
one  of  us  said  it  was  the  gate  Nicanor;  they  immediately 
looked  to  each  other  and  said  -upj  nyiv  (Saar  Nicnor). 

*  This  means,  “Amen — so  be  the  will  of  God.”  t  Acts  xxii. 


44  “the  fair  havens  ” — SACRED  recollections. 

After  which,  we  read  in  their  hearing  the  passage  where 
the  miracle  is  described.*  During  the  conversation, 
they  were  not  a  little  pleased  by  our  remarking,  in  re¬ 
ference  to  there  being  four  of  them,  and  four,  of  us, 
travelling  to  Jerusalem,  uruN  o'nN  (acheem  anachnu), 
“  We  are  brethren.”  f  The  two  who  had  staid  with  us, 
then  bade  us  good  night  with  great  cordiality.  We 
learned  from  them  that  Jacob  Bael  Turim. ,  a  well-known 
Jewish  commentator,  is  believed  to  be  buried  in  the 
island  of  Scio. 

The  captain  of  the  steamer  informed  us,  that  from 
November  to  February  he  has  often  on  board  sixty  or 
seventy  Jews  at  a  time,  going  up  to  visit  Jerusalem.  Of 
these  not  many  are  wealthy,  and  they  return  in  the  course 
of  a  few  months. 

During  night  the  wind  rose  and  the  sea  became  bois¬ 
terous,  so  that  we  experienced  the  tossings  of  the  uCar- 
p  at  Mum  Mare  ”  (Carpathian  Sea),  to  which  we  had  now 
come.  About  sunrise  next  morning,  which  was  Sabbath, 
we  were  passing  the  eastern  point  of  Crete,  opposite  Cape 
Sidro,  anciently  called  Salmonium  or  Salmone.  J  A  ledge 
of  rocks  ran  along  the  shore,  behind  which  the  country 
was  bold  and  mountainous.  Over  all  a  lofty  peak  rose 
in  the  distance,  which  may  possibly  have  been  Ida. 
About  an  hour  after,  we  obtained  a  view  of  a  part  of  the 
southern  coast  of  the  island,  where,  in  the  days  of  Paul, 
was  “  the  place  called  the  Fair  Havens,  nigh  whereunto 
was  the  city  of  Lasea.”  The  recollections  of  the  sacred 
history  were  a  thousand-fold  sweeter  to  us  than  all  our 
classical  remembrances.  It  was  interesting  no  doubt,  to 
look  upon  the  island  of  which  Virgil  sung,  and  whose 
inhabitants  Homer  celebrates — 

“  ol  Kprjrrjv  eKarSpiTroXiv  apifisvepovToyfy 

— (Who  peopled  hundred-citied  Crete). 

But  a  far  deeper  and  holier  feeling  of  interest  was  awa¬ 
kened  in  our  breast,  when  we  looked  upon  it  as  a  re¬ 
gion  where  the  Cross  of  Christ  was  once  so  successfully 
lifted  up,  and  salvation  preached  with  power  to  the  de¬ 
based  idolaters.  We  read  over  with  a  new  relish,  the 
Epistle  to  Titus,  who  was  “left  in  Crete,  to  set  in  order 
the  things  that  were  wanting,  and  to  ordain  elders  in 
every  city.”  We  remembered  how  frequently  Paul  must 
have  visited  this  island,  sailing  over  the  very  sea  we  had 

+  Quoting  Gen.  xiii.  8. 

§  Horn.  II.  ii.  649. 


*  Acts  iii. 
t  Acts  xxvii.  7. 


INTERVIEW  WITH  A  YOUNG  FRENCHMAN.  45 

been  traversing ;  and  we  thought  of  Apollos  tarrying  at 
Crete,  on  his  way  to  his  native  Alexandria  (whither  we 
were  bound),  along  with  Zenas,  the  lawyer,  a  scribe, 
well-instructed  unto  the  kingdom  of  heaven.* 

Next  day  (Monday,  May  13)  the  sea  was  calm,  and  we 
had  some  further  conversation  with  the  passengers.  We 
offered  an  Italian  tract  to  a  poor  monk,  a  pilgrim  on  his 
way  to  the  Holy  Sepulchre ;  but  he  civilly  declined  it, 
saying,  “  he  had  a  pain  in  his  head  whenever  he  attempt¬ 
ed  to  read  /”  One  deeply  interested  person  on  board 
was  the  medical  attendant  belonging  to  the  vessel,  a 
young  Frenchman  named  Darnel.  Last  evening  when 
nearly  all  had  gone  to  rest,  one  of  us  was  led  into  a  close 
and  earnest  conversation  with  him  on  his  hope  for  eter¬ 
nity.  The  ship  was  rolling  very  heavily,  but  he  lay  down 
on  the  floor  of  the  cabin,  and  in  broken  English  on  his 
part,  and  broken  French  on  ours,  we  spoke  on  divine 
things  till  past  midnight.  This  morning  the  conversa¬ 
tion  was  renewed.  The  doctor  declared  that  religion 
was  dead  in  France ;  the  follies  of  Popery  had  led  men 
of  reason  to  despise  all  religion,  and  he  believed  that 
there  was  more  morality  now  than  when  Popery  reigned. 
His  idea  of  duty  was,  that  it  consisted  in  the  practice  of 
such  virtues  as  concern  for  the  public  good,  faithfulness 
to  the  marriage  relation,  and  charity  to  the  poor.  He 
had  no  idea  that  a  regard  to  the  will  of  God  was  the  rule 
of  a  man’s  duty,  and  honestly  confessed,  that  he  had  not 
the  least  feeling  of  sin — “  Philosophy,”  said  he,  “  has 
taught  me  all  that  is  needful  for  man.”  He  acknow¬ 
ledged  that  he  was  not  happy : — he  ate,  drank,  slept,  and 
rose  every  day  to  his  work,  yet  still  was  not  so  happy  as 
he  wished  to  be.  “  But  where  am  I  to  find  happiness  I 
The  St.  Simonians  say  they  are  quite  happy  in  their 
brotherhood,  yet  their  system  is  absurdity.”  We  said 
that  we  had  found  happiness,  and  pointed  out  the  founda¬ 
tion  on  which  it  rested,  and  urged  him  to  put  to  the  proof 
God’s  promise  through  his  Son,  “  Come  to  me,  and  I  will 
g~ive  you  rest”  He  put  us  off  by  saying,  “ he  could  not 
pray  unless  he  believed.”  We  rejoined,  that  he  refused 
to  turn  the  mind’s  eye  toward  the  object  to  be  believed, 
and  therefore  could  not  rationally  expect  to  embrace  the 
truth.  Upon  this  he  argued  that  a  man  was  no  more  to 
blame  for  his  hard  heart,  than  for  a  diseased  member  of 
his  body ;  nor  could  he  see  the  evil  of  being  born  in  sin, 


*  Titus  iii.  13. 
6* 


46  APPROACH  TO  EGYPT — HARBOUR  OP  ALEXANDRIA. 

and  having  a  wicked  nature.  We  showed  him  God’s 
solemn  declarations  of  man’s  awful  guilt,  and  the  free 
offer  which  he  makes  to  him  of  pardon  and  a  new  heart. 
He  was  a  kind,  feeling,  amiable  man— one  who  seemed 
truly  sincere,  yet  one  who  felt,  like  the  young  ruler,  an 
invincible  repugnance  to  the  demands  of  the  gospel. 
We  gave  him  a  French  Bible,  writing  his  name  upon  it, 
and  our  heart-felt  desires  for  his  salvation.  He  received 
it  freely,  and  “  went  away  sorrowful.” 

The  heat  was  now  very  oppressive,  and  the  cabin  at 
midday  was  like  an  oven.  About  two  o’clock  in  the 
afternoon,  we  came  in  sight  of  the  low-lying  shores  of 
Egypt.  The  coast  is  very  low  indeed ;  and  the  country, 
as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  flat  and  sandy.  A  land-mist 
arose  over  the  sky  as  we  approached  the  shore,  drawing 
a  veil  over  the  sun,  and  thus  moderating  the  intense 
heat.  Our  Albanian  friend  pointed  to  a  row  of  buildings 
indistinctly  visible,  which  he  said  were  “a vepopvXat,” 
i.  e.  windmills.  Sailing  past  the  ancient  Pharos,  now  no 
longer  an  island,  we  entered  the  harbour.  We  counted 
twelve  ships  of  the  line,  belonging  to  the  Pacha’s  fleet, 
resting  majestically  on  the  waters.  They  seemed  to  be 
beautifully  equipped  and  fully  manned.  The  appearance 
of  the  marines  was  striking,  with  their  white  cotton  dress, 
red  sash,  deep  brown  faces,  and  glancing  arms — and 
martial  music  resounded  from  every  vessel.  The  cres¬ 
cent  and  star  upon  the  red  flag  reminded  us  that  we 
were  now  among  the  followers  of  the  false  prophet. 
Turning  towards  the  shore,  our  eye  rested  with  quick¬ 
ened  interest  on  the  graceful  palm-trees,  the  camels 
slowly  moving  along  the  beach,  and  other  indications  of 
an  Eastern  clime,  as  the  anchor  dropped,  and  we  pre¬ 
pared  to  land. 


47 


CHAPTER  II. 

EGYPT — THE  DESERT — SOUTH  OF  PALESTINE. 

“  Set  thee  up  way-marks,  make  thee  high  heaps :  set  thine  heart  to¬ 
ward  the  high-way,  even  the  way  which  thou  wentest :  turn  again,  O 
virgin  of  Israel,  turn  again  to  these  thy  cities.” — Jer.  xxxi.  21. 

When  about  to  land,  we  were  told  that  the  plague  had 
that  very  dav  made  its  appearance  in  Alexandria.  This 
was  by  no  means  welcome  news,  for  we  saw  that  in  all 
probability  we  should  now  be  subjected  to  the  delay  of 
a  quarantine  before  entering  Palestine.  Meanwhile, 
however,  having  no  alternative,  we  disembarked.  The 
quay  exhibited  a  strange  scene  of  confusion  and  noise. 
A  crowd  of  rough  half-naked  men  and  Arab  boys,  some 
with  asses,  some  with  camels,  lined  the  beach,  all  scream¬ 
ing  and  quarrelling,  determined  to  press  their  services 
on  every  passenger,  and  to  take  no  denial.  With  some 
difficulty  we  got  our  luggage  satisfactorily  disposed  of, 
and  then  each  of  the  company  mounted  on  an  ass,  and 
guided  by  an  Arab  boy,  scampered  through  the  gate  of 
the  city,  and  through  the  narrow  bazaar,  till  we  came  to 
a  pleasant  square  in  the  other  extremity  of  the  town. 
Here  we  took  up  our  abode  in  an  inn  kept  by  a  French¬ 
man. 

With  calm  delight  we  were  now  able  to  look  round 
upon  the  land  of  Egypt,  while  many  scenes  of  its  event¬ 
ful  history  rose  up  before  us.  It  was  here  that  Jacob 
and  Joseph  sojourned,  with  their  families,  for  400  years. 
This  was  the  land  of  Moses  and  his  wondrous  deeds. 
And,  more  interesting  still,  this  was  the  land  that  gave 
refuge  to  “the  holy  child  Jesus,”  when  compelled  to  flee 
from  the  land  of  Judah.  It  was  the  cradle  of  Israel,  and 
the  cradle  of  Israel’s  Saviour, — as  it  is  written,  “  out  of 
Egypt  have  I  called  my  son.”  * 

This  city  Alexandria  was  the  birth-place  of  Apollos,f 
that  pattern  of  burning  zeal,  and  scriptural  eloquence — 
the  city,  too,  of  Athanasius — and  the  scene  of  the  labours 
of  the  seventy  translators  of  the  Old  Testament.  Alex¬ 
ander  the  Great,  Cleopatra,  Caesar,  and  many  other 


*  Matt.  ii.  15. 


t  Acts  xviii.  24. 


48 


ALEXANDRIA— DRESS  OF  THE  WOMEN. 


names,  are  associated  with  the  name  of  the  once  illus¬ 
trious  Alexandria.  With  still  deeper  interest  we  now 
pondered  over  the  future  history  of  Egypt,  as  disclosed 
in  the  record  of  prophecy,  and  prayed  that  the  time  may 
be  hastened,  when  “  Ethiopia  shall  stretch  out  her  hands 
to  God”  * — When  “  the  Lord  shall  be  known  to  Egypt, 
and  the  Egyptians  shall  know  the  Lord” — “And  the 
Lord  shall  smite  Egypt,  he  shall  smite  and  heal  it;” 
“  Saying,  Blessed  be  Egypt  my  people.”  f 
(May  14.)  Every  eastern  city  is  infested  with  dogs 
that  prowl  about  the  streets  for  food ;  and  during  all  the 
night  their  ceaseless  howling  reminded  us  of  David’s  de¬ 
scription  of  his  enemies :  “  They  return  at  evening ;  they 
make  a  noise  like  a  dog,  and  go  round  about  the  city.”  J 
Before  breakfast,  some  of  us  rambled  out  to  Pompey’s 
Pillar.  The  only  thing  remarkable  about  it  is,  that  the 
shaft  is  one  stone,  a  solid  mass  of  red  granite,  90  feet 
long,  and  9  feet  in  diameter.  The  capital  is  Corinthian, 
indifferently  carved.  The  traces  of  many  a  traveller’s 
visit  are  to  be  found  scratched  upon  its  pedestal.  The 
Mcireotic  Lake  lay  east  of  it,  but  is  now  dried  up,  afford- 
no  moisture  to  water  the  Mareotic  vines  that  once 

regaled  Cleopatra  and  her  lux¬ 
urious  court.  The  ground 
around  it  swarmed  with  small 
lizards,  and  the  surface  is  bro¬ 
ken  with  innumerable  holes 
made  by  the  jerboa.  It  was 
curious  for  us  to  observe  for 
the  first  time  women  wearing 
the  veil  that  hides  the  whole 
face  except  the  eyes.  Some 
carried  the  earthen  jar  upon 
their  head  in  a  very  graceful 
manner.  Some  also  were  car¬ 
rying  their  children  on  their 
shoulders,  as  referred  to  by 
the  prophet,  when  he  says  of 
returning  Israel,  “  thy  daugh¬ 
ters  shall  be  carried  on  their 
shoulders.”^  Some  carried 
them  in  a  still  more  singular 
manner,  upon  their  side,  a 


mg 


*  Ps.  Ixviii.  31. 
t  Ps.  lix.  6. 


t  Isa.  xix.  21,  22,  25. 
$  Isa.  xlix.  22. 


JEWISH  SYNAGOGUE — JEWS.  49 

custom  also  referred  to  by  the  prophet,  “Ye  shall  be 
borne  upon  her  sides.”  * 

Passing  through  the  bazaar,  one  of  the  Pasha’s  Beys 
rode  past  us,  fully  armed,  mounted  on  an  Arab  steed. 
An  Egyptian  clothed  in  white  cotton  ran  before  him  at 
full  speed,  clearing  the  way  with  voice  and  arms.  This 
vividly  recalled  to  us,  Elijah  girding  up  his  loins  and 
running  before  Ahab’s  chariot  to  the  gate  of  Jezreel.f 

In  the  forenoon  we  arranged  our  money-matters,  and 
visited  several  individuals  to  whom  we  had  letters — es¬ 
pecially  Mr.  Larkins,  the  English  consul,  and  Mr.  Todd, 
from  whom  we  received  great  kindness. 

In  the  evening  we  visited  the  Frank  Synagogue.  We 
were  guided  up  a  dark  stair  in  an  obscure  street,  and 
through  a  long  narrow  ill-lighted  passage  into  a  small 
room,  not  more  than  thirty  feet  long  and  ten  broad.  At 
the  door  stood  the  usual  box  for  alms,  and  another  for 
“man1?  piy”  (shemen  limor,)  “olive-oil  for  the  lamps.” 
There  were  only  ten  persons  present :  three  of  whom 
were  natives  of  Egypt,  dressed  in  the  common  oriental 
costume ;  the  rest  from  Leghorn,  Trieste,  and  other  mer¬ 
cantile  towns  of  Europe.  They  showed  little  feeling  of 
devotion ;  except  at  one  point  of  the  short  service,  where 
there  was  a  pause  in  the  reading  of  the  prayers,  and  all 
seemed  to  pray  in  silence  for  four  or  five  minutes,  turn¬ 
ing  their  faces  towards  the  ark.  Before  concluding,  a 
box  was  carried  round  for  contributions.  There  was 
not  one  interesting  feature  either  in  the  worship  or  in  the 
place,  with  the  exception  of  a  large  frame  suspended  on 
the  wall  bearing  these  words, — “  »ipD-n»a  rnnj?  inn'  jcmn 
u'D'3  rvv ina  nmpinS  ,”  “  May  the  merciful  one  bring  back 
the  service  of  the  house  of  the  sanctuary  to  its  place , 
speedily ,  in  our  days.”  This  was  like  one  of  the  groans 
of  Israel  for  deliverance  in  “  the  house  of  bondage.” 

As  soon  as  service  was  over,  the  Jews  spoke  freely  to 
us — opened  the  ark,  and  showed  us  their  copies  of  the 
law.  One  of  the  best  of  these  we  spread  out  for  exami¬ 
nation  on  the  reading-desk;  and  out  of  their  own  scrip¬ 
tures  discoursed  to  them  of  sin  and  atonement  for  sin. 
We  told  them  that  we  had  come  from  Scotland  out  of 
love  to  their  souls.  We  spoke  of  Messiah,  how  he  came 
the  first  time  to  die  for  sin,  and  is  coming  soon  the 
second  time  to  reign  in  glory.  They  said  that  there  are 


*  Isa.  lxvi.  12. 


t  1  Kings  xviii.  46. 


50  ALEXANDRIA — PREPARATION  FOR  JOURNEY. 

about  100  families  of  European  Jews  in  Alexandria,  who 
have  only  one  synagogue ;  and  that  there  are  about  300 
families  of  native  Jews  who  have  two,  and  these  they 
called  the  Arab  synagogues.  One  Jew  who  had  resided 
much  at  Cairo,  told  us  that  in  that  city  there  were  300 
families  of  Jews,  of  whom  one-third  were  Caraites.  We 
afterwards  learned  from  English  residents  that  this  infor¬ 
mation  was  not  very  accurate,  and  that  there  are  more 
Jews  in  Cairo  than  in  Alexandria.  In  the  latter,  there 
may  be  about  1000,  and  in  Cairo  about  2000.  The  Jews 
of  Alexandria  are  mostly  of  the  third  class  in  trade— the 
richest  of  them  are  all  sarafs ,  or  money-changers. 

We  were  occupied  all  next  morning  (May  15)  in  pre¬ 
paring  for  our  journey  through  the  desert.  The  plague 
having  appeared  in  Alexandria,  we  could  not  enter  Pa¬ 
lestine  by  Jaffa  or  Beyrout,  without  submitting  to  a  long 
and  unwholesome  quarantine.  We  therefore  resolved 
to  proceed  by  the  way  of  El  Arish;  and  to  do  this  with¬ 
out  delay,  as  in  the  course  of  a  few  days,  orders  were 
likely  to  be  sent  to  establish  a  quarantine  at  El  Arish. 
The  Consul’s  trusty  janissary,  Mustapha  by  name,  born 
at  Thebes,  a  useful,  clever  person,  busily  engaged  him¬ 
self  in  providing  us  with  needful  articles.  We  had 
already  furnished  ourselves  with  light  dresses  at  Mar¬ 
seilles,  and  straw  hats  at  Leghorn — and  now  we  pur¬ 
chased  travelling  implements.  We  went  to  the  bazaar, 
and  bought  carpets  to  lie  upon  at  night,  and  a  thick  soft 
coverlet  to  wrap  ourselves  in.  We  next  procured  with 
some  difficulty  two  tents,  neither  of  them  large,  one 
round,  the  other  oblong.  Cairo  is  the  proper  place  for 
obtaining  such  articles.  An  Indian  gentleman’s  canteen 
and  cooking  utensils,  with  a  stock  of  remainder  provi¬ 
sions,  fell  into  our  hands  at  a  cheap  rate.  Mustapha 
procured  two  Arab  servants  to  attend  us,  Ibraim  and 
Ahmet,  the  former  able  to  speak  Italian  and  English,  the 
latter  only  Italian.  They  had  often  journeyed  through 
Syria,  and  Ibraim  had  been  lately  there  with  Professor 
Robinson  of  America.  When  they  came  to  be  hired, 
Mr.  Todd  said  to  them  in  the  Eastern  manner — “  I  am 
as  they  are,”  pointing  to  us.  “  Offend  them,  offend  me.” 
They  replied,  “  Their  comfort  shall  be  on  our  heads.” 
Mustapha  added,  “  If  they  do  not  do  what  is  right,  they 
shall  never  drink  water  in  Alexandria  again.” 

The  two  tents  cost  us  340  piastres  (about  3/.  9s. ;)  for 
our  beds,  canteen,  and  provisions,  we  paid  about  14/. 
Our  servants  were  to  accompany  us  for  three  months  at 


TURKISH  BATH — GOVERNOR’S  GARDEN — WELLS.  51 

the  cost  of  36  dollars  each,  exclusive  of  30  dollars  to  each 
on  their  leaving  us,  to  enable  them  to  return  home. 

In  the  afternoon  we  tried  the  Turkish  bath.  The  at¬ 
tendant  first  laid  aside  our  clothes,  and  put  one  towel, 
wrapt  like  a  turban,  round  our  head,  and  another  round 
our  waist.  Then  he  conducted  us  into  an  inner  apart¬ 
ment,  the  atmosphere  of  which  we  could  scarcely  breathe 
at  first,  on  account  of  the  heat  and  vapour.  Our  feet, 
shod  with  wooden  sandals,  slid  on  the  smooth  marble 
floors.  Next  he  laid  us  down  on  our  back  upon  the 
smooth  marble  divan,  in  the  centre  of  the  hpartment, 
washed  us  with  soap,  and  poured  hot  water  over  our 
heads.  All  this  was  done  by  an  Egyptian  almost  naked, 
armed  with  a  rough  glove  of  camel’s  hair.  It  was  not 
without  a  shudder  that  we  felt  ourselves  in  such  hands, 
amidst  about  twenty  others,  all  Mahometans  with 
shaved  heads  and  black  skins.  We  were  then  led  to 
one  of  the  side  baths,  where  the  hot  water  was  allowed 
to  pour  upon  us.  The  pores  being  abundantly  opened 
under  the  operation  of  so  many  causes,  we  were  con¬ 
ducted  back  to  the  room  where  we  had  undressed,  laid 
upon  our  backs,  covered  over  with  a  warm  quilt,  and 
shampooed — the  soles  of  our  feet  being  scraped  with  an 
instrument  for  the  purpose,  and  every  joint  in  our  hands 
and  feet  made  to  crack.  Lastly,  we  were  offered  coffee, 
and  a  glass  of  sherbet ;  after  which  we  were  allowed  to 
dress,  and  come  away,  not  a  little  amused,  as  well  as 
refreshed.  The  custom  of  passing  from  the  bath  to  the 
dressing-room,  during  which  the  feet  might  easily  be 
soiled,  reminded  us  of  the  true  rendering  of  the  precious 
words  of  our  Lord,  “  He  that  has  been  in  the  bath,  need- 
eth  not,  save  to  wash  his  feet,  but  is  clean  every  whit.”* 

Before  dinner  we  had  a  pleasant  ride  to  the  gardens 
of  the  Governor,  about  a  mile  from  town.  Passing  out 
of  the  gate,  we  observed  that  every  man  who  went  out 
showed  his  hand  to  the  sentinel.  This  is  to  prevent  de¬ 
sertion  from  the  army,  every  soldier  bearing  the  Pasha’s 
mark  on  his  right  hand.  We  passed  a  grove  of  palms 
and  observed  the  flowering  pomegranates — vines  also 
and  figs,  tamarisks  and  banians. 

We  stood  a  little  to  observe  the  common  manner  of 
drawing  water  at  the  wells.  A  wheel  is  moved  round 
by  oxen  or  buffaloes,  whose  neck  is  yoked  to  a  pole. 
Every  where  we  saw  the  slow-pacing  animal  moving 
round,  and  heard  the  creaking  of  this  clumsy  apparatus. 

*  John  xiii.  10. 


52 


ALEXANDRIA — FULFILMENT  OF  PROPHECY. 


By  the  road-side  an  old  sarcophagus  was  lying  in  frag 
ments.  We  alighted  and  walked  through  the  gardens, 
laid  out  with  straight  walks,  after  the  Egyptian  taste. 
The  flowering  oranges  were  beautiful  and  fragrant,  and 
the  vines  luxuriant.  The  grapes  are  said  to  be  watery 
[n  returning  we  visited  the  site  of  the  lake  Mareotis, 
Pompey’s  Pillar,  and  the  Mahometan  burying-ground. 
We  then  proceeded  through  the  extensive  ruins  of  the 
old  city  to  Cleopatra’s  Needles,  two  beautiful  obelisks, 
one  lying  flat,  half  sunk  in  the  ground,  the  other  still 
standing  erect.  Both  are  covered  with  hieroglyphics, 
fresh  and  unchanged  by  time.  Near  the  Coptic  Convent 
we  examined  with  much  interest  the  site  and  remaining 
traces  of  the  church  of  the  great  Athanasius,  who  was 
Bishop  here  a.  d.  326,  God’s  witness  for  the  truth  against 
many  kings  and  people.  Some  broken  pillars  and  frag¬ 
ments  of  the  foundation  are  all  that  remain.  Not  far 
from  this  is  the  ancient  Jewish  burying-ground ;  but  the 
Jews  are  now  forced  to  bury  outside  the  walls. 

In  the  course  of  our  ride,  one  of  our  friends,  who  had 
resided  long  in  Egypt,  stated  a  remarkable  fulfilment  of 
prophecy. — Scarcely  any  of  those  reeds  for  which  the 
Nile  was  once  famous  are  now  to  be  found  upon  its 
banks.  The  lotus  in  particular  has  disappeared,  so  that 
it  is  nearly  unknown ;  and  the  papyrus  is  very  rare. 
Now  the  words  of  Isaiah  are  these :  “The  waters  shall 
fail  from  the  sea,  and  the  river  shall  be  wasted  and  dried 
up.”*  This  has  literally  taken  place.  In  the  days  of 
the  prophet  there  were  seven  mouths  of  the  Nile  ;  there 
are  now  only  two ;  the  rest  have  been  wasted  and  dried 
up.  But  farther  he  predicts,!  “  They  shall  turn  the  riv- 
vers  (?’.  e.  the  canals)  far  away,  and  the  brooks  of  defence 
shall  be  emptied  and  dried  up :  the  reeds  and  flags  shall 
wither.  The  paper-reeds  by  the  brooks,  by  the  mouth 
of  the  brooks,  and  every  thing  sown  by  the  brooks,  shall 
wither,  be  driven  away,  and  be  no  more.”!  These  words 
have  come  to  pass,  while  at  the  same  time  it  is  interest¬ 
ing  to  remark,  that  Egypt  is  as  famous  for  its  melons 
and  cucumbers,  its  leeks  and  onions,  and  garlick,  as  it  was 
in  the  days  of  Moses. §  The  reeds  were  commanded  to 
wither,  and  they  have  fled  away  ;  the  other  productions 
against  which  no  word  of  threatening  went  forth,  are  as 

*  Isa.  xix  5.  t  Verses  6,  7. 

t  Some  have  rendered  verse  7 — “  Nakedness  on  the  river,  on  the 
mouth  of  the  river,”  which  would  be  a  striking  reference  to  the  five 
dried-up  branches  by  *yi H'-by  niiy  5  Num,  xi.  5. 


DEPARTURE  FOR  ROSETTA. 


53 


luxuriant  as  before.  The  shelving  banks  of  the  river, 
down  which  Pharaoh’s  daughter  went  with  her  maidens 
to  bathe,  have  been  much  elevated,  owing  to  the  vast 
deposite  of  alluvial  soil  which  the  Nile  is  making  every¬ 
day. 

We  returned  about  sunset,— one  of  the  Moslem  hours 
for  prayer, — and  observed  for  the  first  time  the  Mahome¬ 
tans  bending  to  pray  on  the  deck  of  the  ship,  the  retired 
corners,  and'  even  in  the  streets.  The  same  evening,  in 
the  Bazaar,  we  met  two  of  our  Jewish  friends  who°had 
sailed  to  Egypt  with  us.  They  were  kinder  than  ever, 
and  told  us  that  they  were  going  to  sail  for  Beyrout. 

Next  morning  (May  16),  before  dawn,  we  were  awa¬ 
kened  by  the  arrival  of  the  asses  and  drivers,  that  had 
been  engaged  to  convey  us  as  far  as  Damietta,  the  sand 
of  the  desert  being  so  far  hard  and  suitable  for  the 
asses’  feet.  Notwithstanding  the  continued  knocking 
of  these  drivers,  we  refused  to  start  so  early;  and  it  was 
not  till  seven  that  we  were  fairly  mounted  on  the  nimble 
little  animals,  our  carpets  serving  the  purpose  of  a  saddle. 
Our  train  consisted  of  sixteen  asses.  Our  servants  Ibraim 
and  Ahmet  rode  by  our  side,  and  ten  Egyptian  lads  ran 
beside  the  asses  that  bore  the  luggage.  Soon  after,  our 
train  received  the  addition  of  two  more  asses,  one  to 
carry  the  water-skins,  and  another  to  be  ready  for  ser¬ 
vice  in  case  of  any  of  the  rest  becoming  exhausted. 
We  soon  passed  through  the  Rosetta  gate,  and  bade 
farewell  to  Alexandria. 

It  was  the  morning  of  the  day  on  which  our  General 
Assembly  was  to  meet  in  Edinburgh,  an  assembly  in 
which  the  important  question  of  the  Spiritual  Indepen¬ 
dence  of  our  Church,  and  the  privilege  of  its  Christian 
people,  were  likely  to  be  keenly  discussed.  As  we  rode 
along  the  sands,  sometimes  meeting  the  palm-tree,  some¬ 
times  a  cluster  of  lowly  shrubs,  with  flocks  of  goats 
browsing  near,  we  spoke  to  each  other  of  the  day,  pray¬ 
ing  that  the  crown  might  be  set  on  the  head  of  the 
Anointed  One,  and  that  the  dry  land  of  our  parishes 
might  be  turned  into  water-springs. 

We  thought  of  the  Judges  of  Israel  riding  on  asses,  * 
and  of  the  many  references  to  this  custom  in  the  Bible. 
We  remembered  above  all  that  Zion’s  King  came  thus 
to  Zion,  “  Meek,  and  sitting  upon  an  ass,  and  a  colt  the 
foal  of  an  ass.”f  The  palms  seemed  frequently  to  spring 

*  Judg.  v.  10.  t  Matt.  xxi.  5. 

7 


54 


JOURNEY  TO  ROSETTA— -THE  MIRAGE. 


up  immediately  from  out  of  the  sand,  their  root  no  doubt 
being  nourished  by  unseen  moisture.  Does  the  Psalmist 
refer  to  this  circumstance,  when  he  says,  “  The  right¬ 
eous  shall  flourish  as  the  palm-tree  1”  *  At  all  events, 
there  is  reference  to  its  regular,  steady  growth,  year 
after  year,  marked  by  a  new  circle  upon  the  bark.  The 
beautiful  waving  of  the  branches  also,  when  moved  by 
a  passing  breeze,  showed  us  how  they  came  to  be  so  fre¬ 
quently  used  in  triumphs;  a  custom  alluded  to  in  Reve¬ 
lations,  f  where  the  great  multitude  who  have  overcome 
all  their  enemies  and  stand  before  the  throne,  are  clothed 
in  white  robes  and  hold  “  palms  in  their  hands.”  Lizards 
were  every  where  basking  in  the  heat  of  the  sun ;  and 
sometimes  in  the  distance  a  group  of  camels  were  seen 
feeding  on  the  stunted  shrubs  of  the  desert ;  while  the 
only  sounds  that  broke  on  the  ear  were  the  cries  of  the 
driver,  “ ruach “get  on,”  and  “ uzbel ,”  “stop;”  or 
sometimes  the  voice  of  the  older  men  calling  “ waled” 
“  boy,”  to  the  younger  lads.  The  boys  took  great  de¬ 
light  in  teaching  us  the  Arabic  for  the  numbers  one,  two, 
three,  &c.,  and  for  some  of  the  common  phrases  of  life, 
interpreting  them  by  signs.  Dr.  Keith  engaged  himself 
in  questioning  our  servant  and  guide  Ibraim  about  Petra ; 
for  he  had  been  there  with  Dr.  Robinson  of  America. 
From  him  we  learned  that  a  rough,  hairy  animal,  which 
we  understood  to  be  the  porcupine,  abounds  in  Wady 
Mousa,  and  that  the  Arabs  call  it  “  kangfud ,”  which  is 
evidently  the  Hebrew  map  (kippod),  the  word  used  in 
Isaiah,  |  though  translated  “  bittern  ”  in  our  version. 

Our  course  lay  across  the  head  of  the  ancient  Lake 
Mareotis,  and  some  other  salt-lakes,  now  dried  up  by  the 
sun.  A  white  crust  of  salt  often  covered  the  hard  sand. 
In  the  distance,  we  observed  the  well-known  phenome¬ 
non  of  the  mirage ,  to  which  the  prophet  Isaiah  is  sup¬ 
posed  to  allude,  “  The  parched  ground  shall  become 
(really)  a  pool.”§  At  one  time,  we  saw  what  seemed  to 
be  a  calm  flowing  water,  reflecting  from  its  unruffled  sur¬ 
face  trees  growing  on  its  banks,  while  some  object  in  the 
background  assumed  the  appearance  of  a  splendid  resi¬ 
dence  amidst  a  grove  of  trees.  At  another  time,  there  ap¬ 
peared  castles  embosomed  in  a  forest  of  palms,  with  a  lake 
of  clear  water  stretched  between  us  and  them.  Generally 

*  Ps.  xcii.  12.  t  Rev.  vii.  9.  t  Isa.  xxxiv.  11. 

$  Isa.  xxxv.  7.  The  Hebrew  word  (antp)  employed  in  this  passage  for 
44  parched  ground,”  is  exactly  the  Arabic  name  for  the  mirage,  viz.  serab 


BAY  OF  ABOUKIR — ARRIVAL  AT  R08ETTA. 


55 


the  mirage  may  be  known  by  its  continually  shifting  the 
view,  and  by  the  hazy  movement  of  the  atmosphere 
over  the  apparent  waters. 

Suddenly  we  came  upon  the  Bay  of  Aboukir,  and  were 
refreshed  by  the  cool  breeze  from  the  Mediterranean. 
This  bay  is  famous  in  the  warlike  annals  of  our  country, 
and  here  the  Canopic  mouth  of  the  Nile  used  formerly  to 
empty  itself  into  the  sea. 

About  one,  we  rested,  taking  shelter  from  the  heat 
under  the  walls  of  a  wretched  khan,  which  was  so  small 
that  we  preferred  putting  up  our  tent,  while  the  Arabs 
opened  their  sacks  and  gave  the  asses  provender, — re¬ 
minding  us  of  Jacob’s  sons.* 

At  three,  we  resumed  our  journey,  enjoying  the  plea¬ 
sant  air  from  the  sea  till  toward  evening,  when  we  left 
the  shore.  The  road  was  now  marked  by  pillars,  com¬ 
posed  of  heaps  of  brick,  at  distant  intervals.  The  Arabs 
called  these  “ Ahmoud ,”  that  is  “  pillars.”  They  are  pe¬ 
culiarly  useful  to  the  traveller,  for  it  is  as  easy  for  one  to 
find  his  way  amidst  drifted  snow  that  has  covered  the 
tracks  and  lines  of  a  road,  as  to  find  it  in  this  sandy  de¬ 
sert; — and  no  doubt,  to  these  allusion  is  made  by  the 
prophet,  f  “  Set  thee  up  way-marks,  make  thee  high 
heaps.”  When  a  hurricane  has  passed  over  the  desert, 
the  traces  in  the  sand  are  easily  obliterated,  which  may 
be  alluded  to  by  the  prophet, \  “  O  my  people,  they  which 
lead  thee  cause  thee  to  err,  and  destroy  (swallow  up)  the 
way  of  thy  paths.” 

We  descried  Rosetta  about  two  hours  before  we  reach¬ 
ed  it,  at  the  extremity  of  a  long  flat  valley  of  sand.  The 
rays  of  the  setting  sun  gave  a  red  tinge  to  the  surface 
of  the  desert,  and  as  we  approached  the  town,  we  enter¬ 
ed  a  beautiful  grove  of  palms,  growing  luxuriantly  out 
of  sandy  hillocks.  Some  of  our  attendants  had  got  be¬ 
fore  us,  and  were  waiting  for  us,  in  eastern  style,  at  the 
gate — “El  Bab  Rashid ,”  the  g^te  of  Rosetta,  as  they 
said.  All  was  now  truly  oriental,  and  the  scenery  of  the 
Arabian  Nights  occurred  vividly  to  our  mind,  as  we  rode 
through  streets  silent  as  the  grave,  with  not  even  a  soli¬ 
tary  lamp  to  cheer  the  eye.  The  houses  seemed  nothing 
else  than  lofty  walls  of  brick  or  red  granite.  Many  of 
them  appeared  to  be  wholly  deserted,  though  sometimes 
a  turbaned  head  was  dimly  segn  at  the  narrow  windows 

*  Gen.  xlii.  27. 

t  Jer.  xxxi.  21.  The  Hebrew  \v*ud  is  cannon,  “obelisks  or  col¬ 
umns.” 

t  Isa.  iii.  12. 


56  ROSETTA — LATIN  CONVENT — AN  EASTERN  MARRIAGE. 

of  these  ominous-looking  dwellings.  The  darkness  of 
evening,  the  gloom  of  the  buildings,  and  the  silence  of 
the  town,  made  our  entrance  into  Rosetta  peculiarly 
sombre. 

We  lodged  at  the  Latin  Convent,  wearied  with  our 
journey,  having  travelled  thirty  or  forty  miles  in  nine 
hours.  This  Convent  was  erected  about  thirty-five  years 
ago,  chiefly  with  the  view  of  accommodating  travellers, 
and  is  a  large  brick  building,  in  the  form  of  a  square, 
with  a  court  in  the  midst,  like  all  eastern  houses.  We 
were  guided  by  the  aid  of  a  lantern  up  a  dark  irregular 
stair  to  the  highest  story,  where  we  found  the  apartments 
for  strangers,  far  from  being  either  airy  or  clean,  but  very 
acceptable  after  a  day’s  journey  in  the  wilderness.  There 
are  about  fifteen  Roman  Catholics  in  the  town,  and  a 
superior  (who  was  absent  at  Jerusalem)  generally  resides 
in  the  Convent ;  but  at  the  time  of  our  visit,  there  were 
no  inmates  except  a  solitary  Monk, — an  amiable  Italian, 
with  a  little  native  boy  attending  him. 

We  were  refreshed  by  a  draught  of  the  water  of  the 
Nile.  It  is  certainly  peculiarly  sweet  and  soft — very 
palatable  at  any  time,  and  not  less  so  after  the  heat  of 
the  day.  Perhaps  the  peculiar  pleasantness  of  these 
waters  is  referred  to  by  Jeremiah,  “Now  what  hast  thou 
to  do  in  the  way  of  Egypt,  to  drink  the  waters  of  Sihor !”  * 

We  had  scarcely  sat  down  when  we  heard  the  sound 
of  music  and  mirth,  and  running  to  the  window  observed 
the  glare  of  torches  in  the  street.  We  were  told  that  it 
was  “  the  voice  of  the  bridegroom  and  of  the  bride.”f 
Some  of  us  instantly  set  out  to  witness  the  spectacle  of 
an  Eastern  Marriage.  We  wished  to  see  the  parable  of 
the  Ten  Virgins  illustrated,  and  our  wish  was  gratified. 
The  bridegroom  was  on  his  way  to  the  house  of  the 
bride.  According  to  custom,  he  walked  in  procession 
through  several  streets  of  the  town,  attended  by  a  nu¬ 
merous  body  of  friends,  all  in  their  showy  eastern  garb. 
Persons  bearing  torches  went  first,  the  torches  being 
kept  in  full  blaze  by  a  constant  supply  of  ready  wood 
from  a  receiver,  made  of  wire,  fixed  on  the  end  of  a  long 
pole.  Two  of  the  torch-bearers  stood  close  to  the  bride¬ 
groom,  so  that  we  had  a  view  of  his  person.  Some  were 
playing  upon  an  instrument  not  unlike  our  bagpipe,  oth¬ 
ers  were  beating  drums,  and  from  time  to  time  muskets 
were  fired  in  honour  of  the  occasion.  There  was  much 
mirth  expressed  by  the  crowd,  especially  when  the  pro- 

t  Jer.  xxxiii.  11. 


*  Jer.  ii.  18. 


JEWS — FRANCISCAN  MONK — CONVENT  LIBRARY.  57 

cession  stood  still,  which  it  did  every  few  paces.  We 
thought  of  the  words  of  John,  “  The  friend  of  the  bride¬ 
groom,  which  standeth  and  heareth  him,  rejoiceth  greatly 
because  of  the  bridegroom’s  voice.”*  At  length  the 
company  arrived  at  the  entrance  of  the  street  where  the 
bride  resided.  Immediately  we  heard  the  sound  of  many 
female  voices,  and  observed  by  the  light  of  the  torches, 
a  company  of  veiled  bridesmaids,  waiting  on  the  balcony 
to  give  notice  of  the  coming  of  the  bridegroom.  When 
they  caught  a  sight  of  the  approaching  procession,  they 
ran  back  into  the  house,  making  it  resound  with  the  cry, 
“Halil,  halil,  halil,”  and  music  both  vocal  and  instru¬ 
mental  commenced  within.  Thus  the  bridegroom  enter¬ 
ed  in,  “  and  the  door  was  shut.”  We  were  left  standing 
in  the  street  without,  “  in  the  outer  darkness.”  In  our 
Lord’s  parable,!  the  virgins  go  forth  to  meet  the  bride¬ 
groom  with  lamps  in  their  hands,  but  here  they  only 
waited  for  his  coming.  Still  we  saw  the  traces  of  the 
very  scene  described  by  our  Lord,  and  a  vivid  repre¬ 
sentation  of  the  way  in  which  Christ  shall  come  to  his 
waiting  Church,  and  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb 
begin.  In  India  and  other  parts  of  the  East,  it  is  the 
custom  for  the  friends  of  the  bride  to  go  out  to  meet  the 
company. 

There  are  a  few  Jews  in  Rosetta,  but  no  synagogue. 
The  whole  population  of  the  town  consists  of  6000  inha¬ 
bitants,  and  about  3000  soldiers.  The  ancient  Canopus 
stood  near  the  site  of  the  town,  but  Rosetta  is  believed 
to  be  the  ancient  Bolbotine ,  and  the  branch  of  the  Nile 
that  flows  past  Rosetta  is  the  Bolbotinicum  ostium. 

The  Monk  in  the  Convent  proved  very  affable.  His 
name  was  Jeremiah  Galazzo,  a  Franciscan,  from  Italy. 
He  had  never  read  the  New  Testament  in  any  language 
but  Latin ;  and  when  we  offered  it  to  him  in  Italian,  re¬ 
ceived  it  with  a  smile  of  delight.  Shortly  after  he  came 
back  to  us,  and  asked  if  we  really  meant  to  make  the 
book  his  own ;  and  then  requested  us  to  write  our  names 
upon  it,  mentioning  that  it  was  our  gift  to  him.  This 
we  gladly  did,  and  also  left  some  Italian  tracts  in  his 
library.  Perhaps  the  Lord  may  some  day  make  these 
seeds  of  divine  truth  spring  up  in  his  heart,  as  they  did 
in  Luther’s  within  the  walls  of  a  monastery. 

At  one  end  of  the  room  where  we  slept,  there  was  a 
small  library,  containing  such  books  as  these : — “  OJficia 

*  John  iii.  29  t  Matt,  xxv  1. 

7* 


58 


ROSETTA — THE  NILE — RICE-MILL. 


Sanctorum “  Corpus  Christi “  Scopa “  Gramma- 
tica  Frances e;"  Jerome's  Epistles  in  Latin ;  “  La  Dot- 
trina ”  of  Bellarmine ;  Antoine's  “  Theologia  Moralis 
“  Pictavii  Compendium  Historiae  Universalis."  There 
was  a  work  on  the  Incarnation,  in  Arabic ;  a  copy  of  Bel- 
larmine’s  “  La  Dottrina”  in  Arabic  and  Latin,  and  Mis¬ 
sals  in  abundance,  two  large  folio  copies  in  Latin,  and 
one  in  Arabic ; — but  no  Bible  among  all !  In  the  corner 
of  the  room  was  a  small  cupboard,  neither  neat  nor  clean. 
On  the  table  stood  a  tinder-box,  a  vessel  of  olive-oil,  and 
some  cups.  On  the  wall  hung  a  rosary,  with  the  image 
of  the  Virgin,  bearing  this  inscription,  “ Maria  concept  a 
senza  peccato  originate  precat e  pro  noi  die  a  voi  recon- 
amo i.  e.  “  Mary,  who  wast  conceived  without  ori¬ 
ginal  sin,  pray  for  us  who  betake  ourselves  to  thee.”  On 
the  back  of  a  chair  hung  a  monk’s  brown,  dirty  dress ; 
and  a  skull  cap  lay  on  a  shelf  above. 

(“  May  17.)  Next  morning  when  we  rose  we  gazed 
for  the  first  time  upon  the  river  Nile ;  and  in  the  fore¬ 
noon  walked  along  its  banks,  drinking  of  the  “  water  of 
Sihor,”  those  pleasant  waters  that  were  once  turned  into 
blood.  The  fact  that  these  waters  were  so  highly  prized 
must  have  made  that  amazing  miracle  to  be  the  more 
deeply  felt,  and  gives  singular  force  to  the  words,  “  The 
Egyptians  shall  loathe  to  drink  of  the  water  of  the  river.”* 
So  much  is  the  water  esteemed  down  to  the  present  day, 
that  the  Turks  say,  “if  Mahomet  had  tasted  this  river, 
he  would  have  prayed  for  a  temporal  immortality  that 
he  might  enjoy  it  for  ever.” 

We  visited  a  rice-mill  which  is  in  the  course  of  erec¬ 
tion  ;  and  found  that  the  principal  workmen  in  it  were 
four  Americans  employed  by  the  Pasha.  They  were 
very  happy  to  meet  with  us,  and  invited  us  to  their  lodg¬ 
ing.  One  of  them  begged  us  to  leave  any  English  books 
which  we  could  spare,  as  they  had  read  over  all  their 
store.  They  said  they  kept  the  Sabbath  every  week, 
for  when  engaging  with  the  Pasha,  he  allowed  them  this 
privilege,  that  they  might  take  either  their  own  Sunday 
or  the  "Mahometan  Friday  for  rest.  We  next  went  to 
the  Bazaar,  a  strange  scene  of  filth  and  wretchedness. 
The  shops  were  poorly  supplied,  except  in  the  article  of 
cucumbers ;  but  the  miserable  objects  that  were  crawl¬ 
ing  about, — sore-eyed  children  perched  on  their  mother’s 
shoulder,  with  faces  half  devoured  by  flies, — old  men 
half  blind,— and  all  filthy  in  the  extreme,  presented  a 

*  Exod.  vii.  18. 


THE  MUEZZIN — A  CEREMONIAL  PROCESSION. 


59 


scene  that  cannot  be  described.  Water  is  universally 
carried  in  skins  of  animals,  sewed  up  in  the  form  of  a 
bottle.  The  women  always  carry  their  burdens,  how¬ 
ever  light,  upon  the  head. 

At  twelve  o’clock,  the  Muezzin,  who  were  standing  on 
the  minaret  of  the  Mosque,  called  the  people  to  prayer, 
for  it  was  noon.  The  deep-toned  and  prolonged  cry  of 
these  watchmen  is  heard  over  the  whole  city,  and  if  it 
were  a  call  to  the  worship  of  the  true  God,  would  have 
a  solemn  effect.  It  is  repeated  at  set  hours  every  day, 
and  is  to  be  heard  in  every  Mahometan  town.  Did  Ma¬ 
homet  think  upon  the  words  of  the  Psalmist  when  he 
instituted  this  practice,  “  Evening,  and  morning,  and  at 
noon,  will  I  pray,  and  cry  aloud ;  and  he  shall  hear  my 
voice  I”  *  As  it  was  Friday  the  Mosques  were  all  open. 
Looking  into  one  of  them,  we  observed  a  row  of  tur- 
baned  worshippers  all  kneeling  at  the  same  time.  On 
approaching  too  near  the  door,  we  were  warned  to  with¬ 
draw.  Looking  into  another,  we  observed  a  man  in  a 
kind  of  pulpit,  addressing  the  worshippers,  who  were 
seated  in  a  row  upon  a  marble  floor,  with  their  eyes 
directed  towards  the  preacher.  The  attitudes  of  devo¬ 
tion  in  the  East  are  singularly  beautiful. 

In  returning  to  the  Convent,  we  had  an  opportunity 
of  witnessing  the  procession  that  takes  place  upon  the 
event  of  a  circumcision.  The  Arabs,  with  a  reference 
to  their  progenitor  Ishmael,  circumcise  their  children 
when  thirteen  years  old,  and  perform  the  ceremony  with 
great  pomp.f  The  boy,  on  whose  account  the  ceremony 
was  to  be  performed  on  this  occasion,  was  handsomely 
dressed,  and  seated  upon  a  white  horse,  with  his  head 
garlanded  with  flowers.  The  attendants  stopped  every 
now  and  then,  and  were  entertained  with  music,  firing 
of  muskets,  and  merriment  of  various  kinds,  as  in  the 
marriage  procession.  The  women  wearing  the  veil  seat¬ 
ed  themselves  on  the  ground,  and  sang  with  shrill  voices, 
sometimes  they  threw  a  fragrant  liquid  over  the  boy, 
reminding  us  of  the  words  of  the  Psalmist,  ‘‘All  thy  gar¬ 
ments  smell  of  myrrh,  and  aloes,  and  cassia,  out  of  the 
ivory  palaces,  whereby  they  have  made  thee  glad.”f 
We  observed  more  narrowly  the  bracelets  and  orna¬ 
ments  on  the  forehead  worn  by  the  women,  and  their  eyes 
painted  with  stibium,  and  also  the  silver  anklets  worn  by 
the  children.  The  men  together  played  at  single-stick, 
keeping  time  to  the  music  in  a  very  dexterous  manner 

*  Ps.  lv.  17.  t  Gen.  xvii.  25.  t  Ps.  xlv.  8. 


60  DEPARTURE  FROM  ROSETTA — EASTERN  PLOUGH. 

At  four  in  the  afternoon,  we  took  leave  of  Rosetta  and 
of  our  friendly  monk,  and  crossed  the  Nile,  which  is  here 
1800  feet  broad.  We  and  our  servants  were  a  sufficient 
load  for  one  small  boat ;  our  luggage  occupied  another ; 
and  our  asses  a  third: — and  thus  we  floated  slowly  to 
the  other  side.  A  rice-field  was  near  the  spot  where  we 
landed ;  the  rice  was  springing  up  through  the  water, 
which  still  drenched  its  surface.  We  saw  a  man  plough¬ 
ing  with  oxen ; — the  plough  seemed  nothing  more  than 
a  piece  of  wood,  shaped  so  as  to  be  capable  of  piercing 


the  ground.  Some  of  the  women  of  the  villages  were 
using  the  distaff,  and  the  children  were  gathering  mul¬ 
berries. 

We  had  now  a  pleasant  ride  down  the  right  bank  of 
the  Nile,  among  very  rich  gardens  of  melons  and  cucum¬ 
bers,  with  figs  and  mulberry  trees,  and  the  finest  palms 
we  had  yet  seen.  The  croaking  of  frogs  in  all  the  rice- 
fields  was  incessant,  and  the  pigeon,  called  by  the  Arabs 
Tur ,  was  cooing  among  the  trees.  From  time  to  time 
we  had  to  cross  little  canals  formed  to  carry  water  from 
the  Nile,  and  supplied  by  the  oxen  turning  round  a  wheel. 
Into  one  of  these  one  of  our  baggage  asses  was  pushed 
headlong  by  his  fellow ;  and  the  patient  animal  lay  qui¬ 
etly  at  the  bottom  till  it  was  lifted  out. 

One  of  our  attendants  went  to  drink  at  a  tank  by  the 
roadside.  At  all  these  tanks  there  is  a  small  pitcher  for 
the  accommodation  of  travellers ;  sometimes  fastened  by 
a  chain,  and  sometimes  without  it,  but  even  if  left  loose 
it  remains  untouched.  The  villages  are  wretched.  The 
people  seem  almost  naked,  and  excessively  dirty ;  most 
of  them,  too,  are  old  people ;  very  rarely  did  we  meet 
any  healthy  young  men.  The  reason  is,  that  all  such 
are  obliged  to  enter  the  army;  and  Egyptian  villages 
and  lands  are  left  to  the  care  of  women  and  old  men.  It 
seems  still  the  case  that  taskmasters  rule  over  Egypt — 
it  is  a  “  house  of  bondage”  at  this  day.  God  remembers 
how  Egypt  kept  his  chosen  Israel  400  years  in  slavery, 


DANCE  AND  SONG  BY  THE  ARABS. 


61 


and  therefore  has  poured  out  upon  it  the  fulfilment  of 
that  humiliating  prophecy,  “  It  shall  be  the  basest  of  king¬ 
doms.”*  If  God  fulfils  so  accurately  the  threatening 
against  the  enemies  of  Israel,  will  he  not  as  literally  fulfil 
the  blessing  which  he  has  promised  to  the  friends  of 
Israel  1  And  has  he  not  said,  “  Blessed  is  he  that  blesseth 
thee  V’  f 

About  sunset,  we  left  the  rich  banks  of  the  Nile,  and 
entered  again  upon  the  pathless  desert.  We  could  not 
observe  so  much  as  one  foot-print  of  man  or  beast  upon 
the  smooth  sand.  Soon  we  came  upon  the  sea-shore, 
and  rode  along  the  margin,  the  waves  washing  the  asses5 
feet,  while  the  moon  rose  to  light  us  on  our  way.  At 
one  point,  our  drivers  being  weary,  proposed  encamping 
for  the  night ;  but  Ibraim  advised  us  to  advance  a  little 
further.  Upon  this  the  young  Arabs  proceeded  without 
a  murmur,  and  in  order  to  cheer  the  way  commenced  a 
native  dance  and  song.  One  of  them,  advancing  a  little 
before  the  rest,  began  the  song,  dancing  forward  as  he 
repeated  the  words,  when  the  rest,  following  him  in  regu¬ 
lar  order,  joined  in  the  chorus,  keeping  time  by  a  simul¬ 
taneous  clapping  of  hands.  They  sang  several  Arabian 
songs  in  this  way,  responding  to  one  another,  and  danc¬ 
ing  along  the  firm  sand  of  the  sea-shore,  in  the  clear  beau¬ 
tiful  moonlight.  The  response,  the  dance,  and  the  clap¬ 
ping  of  the  hands,  brought  many  parts  of  the  word  of  God 
to  our  minds.  We  remembered  the  song  of  Miriam  at 
the  Red  Sea,  when  “  the  women  went  out  after  her  with 
timbrels  and  with  dances  ;  and  Miriam  ansivered  them” 
that  is,  “  Miriam  sang  responsively  to  them {  and  also 
the  song  of  the  women  of  Israel  after  David’s  victory  over 
the  giant,  “  They  answered  one  another  as  they  played, 
and  said,  Saul  hath  slain  his  thousands,  and  David  his 
ten  thousands.”  §  The  words  of  the  Psalmist  were  like¬ 
wise  brought  to  mind,  “  O  clap  your  hands,  all  ye  peo¬ 
ple  ;  Shout  unto  God  with  the  voice  of  triumph ;”  ||  and 
again,  “  Let  the  floods  clap  their  hands ;  let  the  hills  be 
joyful  together”  IT — ?.  e.  in  full  choir.  The  responsive 
form  of  the  136th  Psalm,  and  others  of  a  like  kind,  was 
fully  illustrated  by  this  interesting  scene. 

*  Ezek.  xxix.  15,  “  Basest  of  kingdoms,”  is  every  where  seen  fulfilled 
in  the  fact,  that  native  Egyptians  have  none  of  the  power  or  wealth  of 
the  land.  Every  appearance  of  power  or  greatness  in  it  belongs  to 
its  foreign  governor  and  his  officers,  not  to  natives.  The  Pasha  is  the 
gulf  in  which  the  produce  of  Egypt  is  swallowed  up. 

t  Numb.  xxiv.  9.  X  Exod.  xv.  20.  §  1  Sam.  xviii.  6,  7. 

!l  Ps.  xlvii.  1.  V  Ps.  xcviii.  8. 


62  JOURNEY  TO  DAMIETTA — TENTS — BOURLOS. 

We  slept  this  night  on  the  sea-shore.  And  in  putting 
up  our  tents,  we  began  to  understand  better  the  circum¬ 
stances  attending  this  manner  of  life.  We  learned  how 
to  “  enlarge  the  place  of  the  tentf  *  by  “  stretching  out 
the  curtains.”  We  saw  how  by  “  lengthening  the  cords,” 
we  drew  wider  the  covering;  and  as  we  drove  in  the 
pins  “  or  stakes”  into  the  sand,  we  learned  the  necessity 
of  “  strengthening  the  stakes,”  if  they  were  to  endure  the 
tugging  of  the  wind  and  weight  of  the  canvass.  Israel 
is  yet  to  dwell  at  large,  under  a  tent  widely  spread ;  but 
not  a  temporary  abode,  shifted  at  next  morning’s  dawn. 
Jerusalem  is  to  be  “a  tabernacle  that  shall  not  be  taken 
down,  not  one  of  the  stakes  thereof  shall  ever  be  removed, 
neither  shall  any  of  the  cords  thereof  be  broken.”  f 
There  may  be  a  reference  to  the  falling  of  the  tent  when 
its  cords  are  loosed,  in  Job,  “  He  hath  loosed  my  cord 
and  afflicted  me.”  J'  And  perhaps  also  in  the  Epistle  to 
the  Corinthians,  “  If  our  earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle 
were  dissolved,”  §  where  the  original  word  is  KaraXvdi % 
“loosened.”  Then  verse  4th  has  this  meaning,  “We 
groan,  not  to  be  left  without  a  tabernacle  altogether,  but 
to  have  the  glory  enveloping  our  tent,  to  have  an  addi¬ 
tional  and  far  more  glorious  covering.”  Jael’s  tent-nails 
and  hammer  ||  could  not  fail  to  occur  to  us.  When 
Zechariah  says,  “  out  of  him  came  the  nail,”  IF  he  refers 
to  the  fixing  of  the  tent.  And  when  another  prophet 
says,  “  the  nail  that  is  fixed  shall  be  removed,”  **  he  may 
allude  to  the  tent-pin  pulled  up  when  the  tent  is  shifted. 

(May  18.)  We  started  early  next  morning,  and  were 
soon  on  our  way.  We  had  already  learned  how  natural 
were  the  words,  “  Take  up  thy  bed  and  walk ;”  ff  our 
simple  beds  costing  us  no  trouble,  and  serving  us  for  a 
softer  seat  on  the  asses’  back. 

About  one  o’clock  we  reached  the  lake  Bourlos,  an¬ 
ciently  lake  Buteo,  where  the  Sebennetic  branch  of  the 
Nile  once  discharged  its  waters  into  the  Mediterranean. 
It  is  a  fine  expanse  of  water,  communicating  with  the 
sea  by  a  narrow  outlet.  Multitudes  of  large  porpoises 
were  swimming  about,  whose  playful  motions  amused 
us  as  we  sailed  across.  They  repeatedly  darted  out  of 
the  water  in  pursuit  of  smaller  fish.  The  fishermen  on 
shore  were  using  the  dix(pi6\wrpov,  a  net  resembling  the 
poke-net  used  in  the  isles  of  Scotland.  It  is  circular,  and 

*  Isa.  liv.  2.  t  Isa.  xxxiii.  20.  f  Job  xxx.  11.  The  Heb.  is  '“in' 

$  2  Cor.  v.  1,  4.  ||  Judg.  v.  26.  IT  Zech.  x.  4. 

**  Isa.  xxii.  25.  The  nail  is  in  Heb.  in'.  ft  John  v,  8. 


BALTEEN — SABBATH. 


63 


weights  are  placed  round  the  circumference.  The  fish¬ 
erman  holds  it  by  the  centre,  gathers  it  up  in  his  hand, 
and  casts  it  into  the  water ;  he  then  draws  it  slowly  to 
shore  by  a  line  fastened  to  the  centre.  This  is  probably 
the  very  kind  of  net  used  by  the  disciples.* 

Leaving  Bourlos,  we  rode  through  a  pleasant  wilder¬ 
ness  abounding  in  palm-trees.  Passing  a  garden  of 
melons  and  cucumbers,  we  observed  “  the  lodge”  in  the 
midst  of  it,  a  small  erection  of  four  upright  poles,  roofed 
over  with  branches  and  leaves,  under  which  a  solitary 
person  may  sit  and  watch  the  garden.  To  this  desolate 
condition  the  daughter  of  Zion  has  come  as  the  prophet 
foretold,  “  The  daughter  of  Zion  is  left  as  a  lodge  in  a 
garden  of  cucumbers.”  f  In  two  hours  we  arrived  at  a 
paltry  village  named  Balteen,  whose  wretched  houses 
appeared  externally  to  be  masses  of  brick  or  of  mud. 
They  are  built  in  squares,  and  the  windows  look  inward. 
Several  families  occupy  one  of  these  square  edifices. 
At  this  spot  our  guides  refused  to  go  on,  because  they 
said  that  there  would  be  no  more  water  till  four  hours 
more  of  our  journey,  and  the  road  was  too  bad  for  trav¬ 
elling  in  the  dark.  Without  any  altercation,  therefore, 
and  being  glad  to  rest,  we  pitched  our  tents  in  the  mid¬ 
dle  of  this  village  about  seven  o’clock.  The  day  had 
been  exceedingly  sultry;  and  the  faces  of  some  of  us 
were  blistered  by  the  hot  wind  and  glowing  sands. 
We  had  scarcely  sat  down  in  the  tent-door  to  enjoy  the 
cool  air  of  evening,  when  our  attention  was  painfully 
arrested  by  the  screams  of  one  of  our  drivers.  We 
rushed  to  the  spot  in  time  to  save  the  poor  fellow  from 
a  repetition  of  the  unmerciful  blows  which  the  chief 
driver  had  been  inflicting  on  his  head  with  a  staff.  Some 
disobedience  in  drawing  water  was  the  cause  of  quarrel. 
We  took  him  into  our  tent,  and  Ibraim  applied  some 
coffee  to  the  bleeding  wound,  laughing  all  the  time  at 
his  piteous  cries.  Truly  the  tender  mercies  of  the  hea¬ 
then  are  cruel. 

(May  19.)  This  morning  was  the  Sabbath,  and  we 
rested  according  to  the  commandment.  After  wor¬ 
shipping  together,  we  spent  the  forenoon  in  a  grove  of 
palms.  The  heat  was  great,  the  thermometer  being 
84  °.  We  soon  left  the  shade  of  the  palm,  and  seated 
ourselves  under  the  deeper  shade  of  the  fig  and  tama¬ 
risk.  A  fox  started  from  his  lair  at  our  approach,  and 

*  Matt.  iv.  18.  We  saw  the  same  afterwards  at  the  lake  of  Galilee. 

t  Isa.  i.  8. 


64 


BALTEEN — VISIT  FROM  THE  SHEIKH. 


the  native  pigeons  hovered  around  us.  A  thrashing- 
floor  was  in  sight ; — for  our  resting-place  was  on  a  rising 
ground — and  here  the  men  were  busy  bruising  out  the 
corn,  with  an  instrument  which  we  afterwards  found 
very  common  in  the  East.  It  was  no  more  than  a  flat 
board  teethed  with  rows  of  sharp  stones,  on  one  end  of 
which  sat  the  man  driving  the  oxen  round  and  round 
over  the  straw.  It  brought  to  mind,  “Neither  is  the 
cart-wheel  turned  about  upon  the  cummin,”  and  “  Break 
it  with  the  wheel  of  his  cart.”  * 

Some  of  the  villagers  found  us  thus  seated.  About 
twenty  half-naked,  wretched-looking  people,  gathered 
round,  to  gaze  at  us  and  our  clothing.  We  felt  it  pain¬ 
ful  to  be  among  these  ignorant,  miserable  people,  and 
not  able  to  tell  them  in  their  own  tongue  one  word  of  the 
great  salvation.  It  stirred  us  the  more  to  cry,  “  Thy 
kingdom  come !”  They  kindly  offered  us  some  fresh 
garlick,  and  then  their  long  pipe  to  smoke.  One  of  them 
brought  a  vessel  of  water,  and  tasted  it  first  himself  to 
induce  us  to  drink  with  confidence. 

In  the  evening,  the  Sheikh  or  Governor  of  the  place 
came  down  to  our  tent,  attended  by  his  Secretary — 
whom  we  found  to  be  an  Arabic  Christian— and  by  his 
Pipe-bearer.  They  drank  tea  and  ate  sugar  with  great 
good  humour,  and  seemed  delighted  at  the  attention  paid 
them.  They  gladly  accepted  a  pencil-case  and  knife, 
and  promised  to  Dr.  Keith  to  take  Arabic  tracts  if  he 
would  send  them.  The  Governor’s  brother  was  next 
introduced,  that  wTe  might  heal  him  of  blindness.  We 
found  that  one  of  his  eyes  was  obscured  by  cataract, 
which  we  assured  him  it  was  beyond  the  reach  of  our 
skill  to  remove.  Upon  their  leaving  us,  we  received  a 
hint  to  give  a  small  bacshish ,  or  present,  to  the  Pipe- 
bearer,  as  a  token  of  respect  to  the  Master  for  the  hon¬ 
our  he  had  doiie  us  in  visiting  our  tent. 

(May  20.)  Owing  to  the  restless  impatience  of  our 
guides  and  servants,  we  were  obliged  to  strike  our  tents 
at  midnight.  The  moon  was  nearly  full,  and  the  sky 
without  a  cloud  as  we  travelled  onward  for  some  hours 
through  a  much  richer  and  more  undulating  country  than 
that  which  we  had  passed.  The  palms  and  other  trees 
of  the  desert  gave  beauty  to  the  scene,  while  the  hoarse 
croaking  of  the  frogs  told  us  that  water  was  plentiful. 
Sometimes  we  came  upon  Arab  huts  made  of  branches 
of  the  belach  or  palm,  and  were  saluted  by  the  angry 
howl  of  dogs.  Arriving  at  the  sea,  we  rode  along  "the 

*  Isa.  xxviii.  27,  28. 


ASSOUM — SENNA — PASHA’S  TROOPS. 


65 


shore,  the  waves  frequently  washing  the  asses’  feet. 
We  now  felt  great  difficulty  in  preventing  ourselves 
from  falling  asleep,  and  were  often  on  this  account  pre¬ 
cipitated  to  the  sand,  to  the  great  amusement  of  our 
Egyptian  attendants.  Frequently  we  were  roused  by 
the  vivid  flashes,  of  lightning,  which  played  beautifully 
from  the  bosom  of  the  dark  clouds  above  the  sea. 

After  riding  ten  hours  in  this  manner  we  came  to 
Assoum,  an  unsheltered  village,  consisting  of  a  few 
wretched  huts,  and  with  very  bad  water.  To  save  time, 
our  tents  were  not  erected ;  but  we  cast  ourselves  down, 
wearied  and  sleepy,  upon  our  mats,  under  the  shelter  of 
the  coverlets  thrown  over  us,  and  tried  to  find  a  little 
rest  under  a  scorching  sun  and  upon  glowing  sand.  It 
was  easy  now  to  understand  the  murmurings  of  the 
children  oflsrael  in  the  desert ;  for  heat,  thirst,  and  a  long 
journey  over  burning  sands,  made  us  experience  feelings 
of  misery  which  we  had  not  known  before.  After  two 
hours  of  repose,  a  dip  in  the  sea,  and  a  sparing  meal  of 
rice  and  dates,  we  resumed  our  journey,  being  anxious 
to  reach  Damietta  this  evening.  About  three  o’clock,  as 
we  left  the  sea-shore,  the  Minarets  of  the  town  appeared 
in  the  distant  horizon.  We  rode  through  an  undulating 
pass  of  low  sand-hills,  the  air  resembling  that  of  an  oven. 
Coming  in  sight  of  a  well,  our  guides  ran  to  quench  their 
burning  thirst.  To  us,  however,  this  only  afforded  a 
trial  of  patience,  for  the  water  was  so  muddy  that  we 
could  not  drink.  In  a  little  time  we  arrived  at  Senana, 
a  village  on  the  west  side  of  this  branch  of  the  Nile, 
where  the  Pasha  has  barracks  for  some  thousand  troops. 
The  troops  were  exercising  as  we  passed  by:— some 
were  in  drill,  and  some  shooting  at  a  mark.  They  wear 
a  white  cotton  dress,  with  a  deep  red  sash,  and  are  far 
from  being  a  bold-looking  set  of  men.  The  Nile  here  is 
800  feet  broad ;  and  this  was  anciently  called  the  Phatni- 
tic  or  Bucolic  branch.  We  sat  down  upon  the  bank,  and 
drank  freely  of  the  water,  which,  when  passed  through 
a  filter,  was  pure  and  delicious.  An  Egyptian  officer 
brought  us  out  chairs,  and  sat  down  with  us  in  the  shade 
of  his  house.  He  spoke  with  deep  admiration  of  Mehemet 
Ali,  and  told  us  anecdotes  of  his  unwearied  activity. 

The  houses  and  mosques  of  Damietta  looked  very 
beautiful  in  the  evening  sun  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the 
river, — a  sad  contrast  to  the  filth,  poverty,  and  guilt,  to 
be  found  within.  This  is  the  ancient  Tamiatis;  it  occu¬ 
pies  a  fine  situation,  and  has  well  cultivated  lands  in  its 

8 


66  DAMIETTA— INTRODUCTION  TO  VICE-CONSUL. 

vicinity.  We  had  sent  Ibraim  across  the  river  with  a 
letter  to  the  Vice-Consul,  the  only  representative  of  Eng¬ 
land  in  this  place,  to  make  known  our  arrival.  He  re¬ 
turned  with  a  message  from  the  Vice-Consul  inviting  us 
to  his  house;  upon  which  we  immediately  embarked, 
and  were  soon  rowed  across  the  gentle  stream,  and  up 
one  of  the  canals,  till  we  landed  in  Damietta,  immedi¬ 
ately  under  the  Consul’s  garden.  We  were  received 
into  a  large  hall,  with  a  stone  floor,  and  a  broad  divan  at 
the  far  end.  In  the  one  corner,  *  which  is  the  place  of 
state,  we  found  the  Vice-Consul,  a  smart-looking  Egyp¬ 
tian,  in  a  Greek  dress  of  dark  green,  with  yellow  slip¬ 
pers.  He  received  us  very  graciously,  and  made  us 
sit  beside  him  on  the  divan.  Long  pipes,  highly  orna¬ 
mented,  were  immediately  brought  to  us  by  the  attend¬ 
ants.  We  felt  it  not  a  little  teazing,  after  all  our  fatigues 
and  sleeplessness,  to  be  compelled,  out  of  politeness,  to 
go  through  these  eastern  formalities,  and  to  recline  with 
him  for  nearly  two  hours,  until  a  repast  was  prepared 
such  as  he  thought  suitable  for  British  travellers.  How¬ 
ever,  we  were  deeply  interested  by  observing  many 
eastern  customs,  which  we  had  read  of  from  our  youth. 
We  were  introduced  also  to  the  Consul’s  brother  and 
nephew ;  the  latter  a  fine-looking  young  man,  with  a 
pointed  moustache,  who  had  singular  command  over 
his  features.  He  spoke  to  us  in  the  Italian  very  freely ; 
told  us  with  great  sangfroid  of  the  poverty  and  misery 
of  the  inhabitants  of  Damietta ;  and  when  we  informed 
him  that  we  were  Ministers  of  Christ,  said  that  he 
admired  our  religion  very  much,  because  it  appealed 
to  reason.  An  old  Bedouin  sheikh  was  brought  before 
us,  who  promised  to  do  his  best  to  procure  camels  for 
our  future  journey  through  the  desert.  At  last  the  re¬ 
past  was  served  up.  It  was  much  after  the  English  fash¬ 
ion,  our  host  shewing  us  the  greatest  kindness.  After  all 
was  over,  we  were  guided  by  the  janissary,  carrying  a 
silk  lantern,  through  the  dark  streets,  to  rooms  belonging 
to  the  British  consulate.  Our  mats  were  spread  upon 
the  floor,  and  we  slept  soundly,  although  the  mosquitoes 
annoyed  us  not  a  little.  A  locust  also  dropt  in  at  one  of 
the  lattices  of  the  room.  Our  chamber  was  fitted  up  in 
the  true  oriental  style,  for  the  part  of  the  room  assigned 
for  the  bed  was  about  a  foot  higher  than  the  rest  of  the 
floor.  We  saw  the  meaning  of  “going  up  to  the  bed.”f 
The  windows  were  completely  shaded  by  a  wooden  lat¬ 
tice-work  on  the  outside,  which  we  found  universal  in 
*  Amos  iii.  12,  and  Zech.  x.  4.  t  Ps.  cxxxii.  3. 


VICE-CONSUL — GOVERNOR  OF  THE  PROVINCE.  67 


Egypt.  It  is  probably  the  same  thing  that  is  spoken  of 
by  Solomon,  “shewing  himself  through  the  lattice.”* 
(May  21.)  Early  next  morning,  we  settled  accounts 
with  the  Egyptian  donkeymen  who  had  brought  us  thus 
far  on  our  journey.  Soon  after  which  the  Consul’s  janis¬ 
sary,  dressed  in  white,  with  red  shoes,  came  to  invite  us 
to  our  forenoon’s  repast.  We  then  found  that  it  is  the 
custom  in  the  East,  to  send  for  the  guests  when  the  feast 
is  prepared,  saying,  “Come,  for  all  things  are  now 
ready.”f  The  Consul  was  sitting  as  usual  in  the  corner 
of  his  divan,  along  with  some  Egyptian  friends,  among 


whom  was  the  Governor  of  the  province — a  rough-look¬ 
ing  man,  with  a  grisly  beard,  snow-white  turban  and 


*  Song  ii  9. 


+  Luke  xiv.  17.  Esther  vi.  14. 


68  DAMIETTA — DINNER  AT  VICE-CONSUL’S. 

piercing  eye.  He  was  very  kind  to  us,  and  examined 
all  our  clothes,  even  the  pockets  and  lappets  of  our  coats, 
our  watches,  outside  and  inside,  with  uplifted  eyebrows, 
adding  “  Buono,  buono ,”  at  every  discovery.  The  colla- 
zione  was  in  the  English  fashion  for  our  sakes,  and  the 
Governor  for  the  first  time,  as  he  told  us,  attempted  the 
use  of  the  knife  and  fork.  After  the  repast,  the  servants 
carried  round  a  brazen  basin,  and  out  of  a  jar  poured 
water  on  the  hands  of  every  guest.  We  remembered 
Elisha  pouring  water  on  the  hands  of  Elijah.* 

Returning  again  to  the  hall,  and  squatted  once  more 
upon  the  divan,  coffee  was  brought  in  very  small  cups, 
each  cup  being  enclosed  in  a  small  silver  case.  The 
long  pipes  were  next  carried  in  by  six  attendants.  Each 
servant  stood  at  a  reverent  distance,  and  kept  his  eye 
fixed  upon  the  hand  of  the  guest  whom  he  was  serving, 
watching  the  slightest  motion.  This  vividly  recalled  the 
allusion  in  the  Psalms,  “  Behold  as  the  eyes  of  servants 
look  unto  the  hand  of  their  masters.”!  While  we  were 
thus  seated,  a  tall  old  man  came  in  with  a  petition  in  his 
hand.  He  took  off  his  shoes,  and  approached  the  Gover¬ 
nor  barefoot. t  The  great  man  glanced  rapidly  over  the 
paper,  and  without  speaking  a  word,  gathered  his  brows 
into  a  terrible  frown ;  whereat  the  poor  man  retired  as 
if  from  a  serpent. 

At  parting,  we  were  invited  to  return  to  the  evening 
meal.  No  hour  was  fixed;  but  towards  evening,  we 
were  sent  for  by  the  secretary,  whose  name  was  Salva¬ 
tor  Strigelli,  an  intelligent  young  Italian,  fantastically 
dressed,  with  long  black  hair  curling  upon  his  shoulders. 
We  asked  him  when  his  master  usually  dined ;  he  said, 
“  About  half  an  hour  after  sunset,”  which  proved  to  be 
half-past  seven.  We  had  an  opportunity  of  speaking  to 
this  secretary  very  directly  on  the  necessity  of  a  per¬ 
sonal  interest  in  Christ.  He  seemed,  however,  to  have 
a  strong  leaning  to  scepticism,  and  was  of  a  romantic 
turn  of  mind. 

At  the  door  of  the  Consul’s  house  were  many  poor 
and  diseased,  hanging  about  in  expectation  of  getting 
help  from  those  who  visited  him.  We  remembered  La¬ 
zarus  laid  at  the  rich  man’s  gate.§  At  dinner  we  were 
still  more  interested  in  observing  a  custom  of  the  coun¬ 
try. — In  the  room  where  we  were  received,  besides  the 
divan  on  which  we  sat,  there  were  seats  all  round  the 
walls.  Many  came  in  and  took  their  place  on  those 

*  2  Kings  iii.  11.  t  Ps.  cxxiii.  2.  f  Exod.  iii.  5.  §  Luke  xvi.  20. 


ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  JEWISH  CUSTOMS. 


69 


side-seats,  uninvited  and  yet  unchallenged.  They  spoke 
to  those  at  table  on  business  or  the  news  of  the  day,  and 
our  host  spoke  freely  to  them.  This  made  us  understand 
the  scene  in  Simon’s  house  at  Bethany,  where  Jesus  sat 
at  supper,  and  Mary  came  in  and  anointed  his  feet  with 
ointment ;  *  and  also  the  scene  in  the  Pharisee’s  house, 
where  the  woman  who  was  a  sinner  came  in,  uninvited 
and  yet  not  forbidden,  and  washed  his  feet  with  her 
tears,  f  The  chief  dish  at  the  table  was  a  highly-sea¬ 
soned  pilau  of  rice ;  but  the  Consul  pressed  us  much  to 
another,  which  he  described  as  a  dish  peculiar  to  Egypt, 
made  of  an  herb  like  clover,  called  melahieh.  It  has  a 
saltish  taste,  as  its  Arabic  name  indicates.  Several 
armed  Arabs  were  serving  us,  but  the  favourite  attend¬ 
ant  was  Hassan,  who  was  always  summoned  into  the 
room  by  a  loud  call  “  Wa-hassan ,”  accompanied  by 
clapping  the  one  hand  very  sharply  on  the  other.  The 
conversation  was  of  a  more  serious  cast  than  previously. 
The  Consul,  whose  name  is  Michael  Suruff,  is  by  birth 
an  Egyptian,  and  his  father  was  a  native  of  Damascus. 
He  is  a  Greek  Roman  Catholic,  but  so  liberal,  that  he  de¬ 
clared  he  believed  our  Protestant  worship  to  be  much 
nearer  the  form  which  Christ  would  approve.  He  thought 
that  there  were  no  traces  in  Scripture  of  any  such  orders 
in  the  church  as  their  bishops.  At  the  same  time  he 
reckoned  it  a  disgrace  for  any  man  to  change  his  religion. 

(Wednesday,  May  22.)  In  the  pleasant  air  of  morning 
the  flat  roof  of  our  house  afforded  us  an  opportunity  of 
realizing  Peter’s  position  in  Acts  x.  9,  and  of  imitating 
his  example.  Immediately  below  our  apartment  was  the 
Graeco-Romish  chapel,  a  very  small  apartment,  filled  with 
the  fragrance  of  incense.  Two  priests  stood  at  the  altar 
and  two  monks  were  reading  the  Arabic  service.  Two 
little  boys  also  were  assisting;  but  we  were  the  only  au¬ 
ditors.  The  half  of  the  population  of  Damietta  is  pro- 

*  John  xii.  1 — 3. 

+  Luke  vii.  36 — 38.  We  afterwards  saw  this  custom  at  Jerusalem, 
and  there  it  was  still  more  fitted  to  illustrate  these  incidents.  We  were 
sitting  around  Mr.  Nicolayson’s  table,  when  first  one  and  then  another 
stranger  opened  the  door  and  came  in,  taking  seats  by  the  wall.  They 
.eaned  forward  and  spoke  to  those  at  table.  Now,  in  the  case  of  the 
woman  that  was  a  sinner,  Christ  is  dining  at  a  Pharisee’s  table.  As  the 
feast  goes  on,  the  door  opens,  and  a  woman  enters  and  takes  her  seat 
by  the  wall  just  behind  him.  The  Pharisee  eyes  her  with  abhorrence; 
but  as  custom  permits  it,  he  does  not  prevent  her  coming  in.  After  a 
little  time,  as  Jesus  is  reclining,  with  his  feet  sloped  toward  the  back  of 
the  couch,  the  woman  bends  forward,  pours  her  (ears  on  his  feet,  and 
anoints  them  with  precious  ointment. 


70 


SCHOOLS— DEPARTURE  PROM  DAMIETTA. 


fessedly  Christian,  but  most  of  these  belong  to  the  Greek 
church.  In  one  of  the  streets  we  were  attracted,  by  the 
sound  of  bawling  voices,  to  a  native  school.  Eight 
children  were  seated  on  the  floor,  with  their  books  placed 
before  them,  not  on  a  desk,  but  on  a  sort  of  hurdle.  The 
children  kept  up  an  incessant  rocking  motion  of  the  body 
backward  and  forward  at  every  word  they  repeated,  and 
ail  seemed  to  speak  at  once  at  the  pitch  of  their  voices. 
At  the  corner  of  another  street  we  were  attracted  by  a 
similar  sound  to  a  school  up  a  stair,  attended  by  about 
thirty  children,  with  two  teachers.  They  sat  in  regular 
rows  on  the  floor,  with  their  books,  which  were  all 
Arabic,  in  their  hands ;  their  shoes  had  been  left  in  a 
heap,  at  the  door.  Three  repeated  their  lesson  at  once, 
rocking  to  and  fro.  Quickness  and  loudness  of  utter¬ 
ance  seemed  to  be  aimed  at  as  the  chief  excellence  of 
the  scholars. 

We  visited  the  Consul  once  more,  to  thank  him  for  all 
his  kindness  and  bid  him  adieu.  The  common  salutation 
at  meeting  and  parting  is  to  put  the  hand  first  on  the 
breast  and  then  on  the  lips,  as  if  to  intimate  that  what 
the  lips  utter  the  heart  feels.*  But  no  custom  of  the  East 
struck  us  more  than  their  manner  of  squandering  away 
time :  drinking  coffee,  smoking,  and  sitting  indolently  on 
a  couch,  seem  to  occupy  many  hours  of  the  day. 

In  the  forenoon,  our  arrangements  for  traversing  the 
desert  being  completed,  we  set  out  for  the  lake  Menza- 
leh,  about  a  mile  from  Damietta.  Many  of  the  people 
whom  we  passed  on  the  way  were  preparing  chopped 
straw  and  camel’s  dung  mixed  with  earth  for  fuel.f  Many 
of  the  children  were  absolutely  naked.  Reaching  the 
lake,  we  embarked  in  a  large  open  boat,  spread  our 
carpets  on  the  floor,  and  formed  an  awning  with  our  mats. 
A  large  sail  was  raised,  and  a  gentle  breath  of  wind 
carried  us  slowly  along ;  the  sail  and  ropes  were  well 
patched,  and  would  have  fared  ill  in  a  gale.  Lake  Men- 
zaleh  is  the  ancient  Mendes ,  and  is  in  general  four  or  five 
feet  deep.  The  bottom  appeared  to  be  a  very  rich  allu¬ 
vial  soil,  and  were  the  lake  drained  would  form  a  splendid 
plain.  The  banks  are  all  cultivated  for  rice.  In  the  mid¬ 
dle  of  the  deck  of  our  boat  stood  a  large  earthen  jar  with 
water,  of  which  the  sailors  drank  from  time  to  time.  The 
Bedouin  sheikh,  Haggi  Mater,  sat  beside  us.  He  was  an 

*  See  Job  xxxi.  27,  “  My  mouth  hath  kissed  my  hand.” 

t  This  may  explain  what  is  said  in  Ezek.  iv.  14,  15. 


LAKE  MENZALEH — BEDOUIN  SHEIKH — VILLAGES.  71 

elderly  man,  of  a  very  mild  and  pleasant  countenance, 
and  yet  it  was  easy  to  trace  beneath  the  numerous  folds 
of  his  turban  the  cunning  of  his  nation.  He  was  in  great 
good  humour  when  we  gave  him  dates  and  other  fruit, 
and  still  more  in  the  evening  when  we  offered  him  tea 
and  sugar.  The  thermometer  was  74°  under  our  awn¬ 
ing,  and  the  vessel  moved  very  slowly,  so  that  we  found 
it  pleasant  to  bathe  in  the  lake.  We  sailed  past  two 
villages  that  lie  close  to  each  other,  Ugbic-h  or  Menzaleh , 
and  Maturich.  The  former  is  on  the  neck  of  land,  and 
both  had  a  lively  appearance,  presenting  the  aspect  of 
more  industry  than  any  Egyptian  town  or  village  we 
had  yet  seen.  There  were  many  boats  at  the  quay ; 
some  carrying  lime,  others  rice,  others  fish.  The 
Mosque,  rising  over  the  houses  and  palm-trees,  and  seen 
against  the  deep  blue  sky,  gave  a  truly  picturesque  ef¬ 
fect  to  this  quiet  but  busy  spot.  Towards  evening, 
we  observed  the  shore  covered  with  immense  reeds, 
from  ten  to  twenty  feet  high ;  the  water-fowl,  and  the 
fish  leaping  out  of  the  water,  seemed  to  be  innumerable. 
The  unbroken  stillness  of  the  evening  scene  was 
strangely  solemnizing,  and  after  singing  the  23d  and 
121st  Psalms,  we  committed  ourselves  to  repose  in  the 
bottom  of  the  boat. 

(May  23.)  We  were  roused  before  sunrise.  Our  boat 
had  reached  during  the  night  a  narrow  embankment, 
which  divides  this  part  of  the  lake  from  the  next.  The 
part  we  had  sailed  over  was  anciently  the  Mendesian 
branch  of  the  Nile :  and  the  part  we  were  now  to  enter 
upon  was  the  Tanitic  or  Saitic  branch,  now  called 
Moes.  The  place  was  called  Sid,  perhaps  a  remnant 
of  the  ancient  Sais. 

While  the  men  were  transporting  the  luggage  over 
the  slender  isthmus,  we  wandered  along  the  shore.  It 
was  a  beautiful  morning,  and  the  air  was  soft  and  balmy, 
— -just  such  an  atmosphere  Joseph  used  to  breathe  when 
he  was  governor  over  the  land  of  Egypt.  We  came 
upon  two  Arabs  sitting  by  a  smouldering  fire  of  camel’s 


dung.  The  quern  or  hand-mill,  made  of  two  granite 


72 


MODE  OF  DRAWING  WATER — ZOAN. 


stones,  was  lying  by  a  large  cruise  of  water,  and  a  round 
iron  plate  for  baking.  As  we  sailed  on,  the  banks  on 
either  hand  presented  fields  of  very  large  onions  watered 
by  human  labour.  A  half-naked  Egyptian  stood  by  a 
well,  into  which  he  dipped  a  bucket,  which  was  attached 
to  a  transverse  pole.  By  means  of  a  weight  at  the  other 


end  of  the  pole,  the  bucket  was  easily  raised  and  emptied 
mto  the  ditch,  which  conveyed  it  over  the  field.*  There 
were  also  many  “  sluices  and  ponds  for  fish,”  similar 
without  doubt  to  those  referred  to  by  Isaiah, f  which 
were  once  numerous  on  all  the  branches  of  the  Nile. 

About  ten  o’clock  a.  m.  we  landed  at  the  village  of  San, 
anciently  called  Tanis,  and  in  Scripture  Zoan ,  one  of 
the  most  ancient  cities  in  the  world.  J  The  fine  alluvial 
plain  around  was  no  doubt  “  the  field  of  Zoan,”§  where 
God  did  marvellous  things  in  the  days  of  Moses ;  and 
it  is  by  no  means  an  unlikely  opinion,  that  the  well- 
known  Goshen||  was  in  this  region.  We  pitched  our 
tents  upon  the  bank  to  shelter  ourselves  from  the  rays  of 
an  almost  vertical  sun,  while  the  wild  Arabs  came  round, 
some  to  gaze  upon  the  strangers,  and  some  to  offer  old  coins 
and  small  images  for  sale.  In  the  cool  of  the  day  we  wan¬ 
dered  forth  for  solitary  meditation,  and  Mr.  Bonar,  passing 
over  some  heaps  of  rubbish  a  few  minutes’  walk  from  the 

*  Some  such  custom  is  alluded  to  in  Deut.  xi.  10 :  “  Not  as  the  land 
°f  kgypt,  hom  whence  ye  came  out,  where  thou  sowedst  thy  seed,  and 
wateredst  it  with  thy  foot  as  a  garden  of  herbs.” 

t  Isa.  xix.  10.  f  Numb.  xiii.  22 

*  Ps.  Ixxvm.  12,  43.  ||  Gen.  xlvi.  29. 


RUINS  OF  ZOAN, 


73 


village,  started  a  fox  from  his  lair.  Following  after  it,  he 
found  himself  among  low  hills  of  loose  alluvial  matter, 
full  of  fragments  of  pottery,  while  beyond  these  lay  seve- 


n 


ZOAN — FULFILMENT  OF  PROPHECY. 


ral  heaps  of  large  stones,  which  on  a  nearer  inspection 
he  found  to  be  broken  obelisks  and  ruins  of  what  may 
have  been  ancient  temples— the  relics  of  a  glory  that  is 
depai  ted.  Put  darkness  came  on,  and  obliged  him  to 
return  to  the  tent.  It  was  a  lovely  moonlight  night,  and 
very  pleasant  it  was  to  unite  in  prayer  and  in  singing 
psalms  amid  the  wild  Arabs,  in  the  very  region  where 
God  had  wrought  so  many  wonders  long  ago.  We  read 
over  Isaiah  xix,  “  The  burden  of  Egypt,”  in  our  tent,  and 
when  we  looked  out  on  the  paltry  mud  village  of  San, 
i  ^s„wretched  inhabitants,  we  saw  God’s  word  ful¬ 
filled  before  our  eyes.  “  Surely  the  princes  of  Zoan  are 
fools,  the  counsel  of  the  wise  counsellors  of  Pharaoh  is 
become  brutish  “  Where  are  they?  where  are  thy  wise 
men  ?  “  The  princes  of  Zoan  are  become  fools”*  The 

people  of  the  modern  village  are  extremely  filthy  and 
ignorant,  famous  for  pilfering,  and  not  to  be  trusted. 
Gur  sheikh  and  servants  were  a  little  afraid  of  them,  and 
insisted  on  making  one  or  two  discharges  of  fire-arms 
to  instil  a  salutary  awe  into  the  villagers.  They  also 
kept  watch  round  our  tents  the  whole  night,  (one  of 
them  with  a  naked  sabre,  which  lay  by  his  side  gleaming 
in  the  moonlight,)  keeping  one  another  awake  by  a  low 

(May  24,  Friday.)  At  sunrise  we  took  a  full  survey 
of  all  that  now  remains  of  ancient  Zoan.  We  found  that 
the  large  mounds  of  alluvial  matter  which  cover  the  ruins 
of  brick  and  pottery,  extend  about  two  miles  from  east 
to  west,  and  one  mile  and  a  half  from  north  to  south. 

1  ne  whole  country  round  appeared  to  be  covered  not 
with  sand,  but  with  soil  which  might  be  cultivated  to 
t  le  utmost  if  there  was  water.  The  most  remarkable 
relics  of  this  ancient  city  lie  at  the  western  extremity 
We  came  upon  immense  blocks  of  red  granite  lying  in  a 
heap.  All  had  been  hewn,  some  were  carved,  and  some 
were  still  lying  regularly  placed  one  above  another 
Here  probably  stood  the  greatest  temple  of  Zoan ;  and 
there  seems  to  have  been  an  open  square  round  it.  Pos¬ 
sibly  also  a  stream  flowed  through  the  very  midst  of  the 
city  for  at  present  there  is  the  dry  channel  of  a  torrent. 

urther  to  the  north,  we  found  ten  or  twelve  obelisks, 
fallen  and  prostrate,  and  two  sphinxes,  broken  and  half 
sunk  into  the  ground.  The  finest  of  the  obelisks  was 
tmrty  feet  long,  the  culmen  unbroken,  and  the  carvin" 
unimpaired.  All  were  covered  with  hieroglyphics.  Seve- 

*  Isa.  xix.  11—13. 


RUINS  OF  ZOAN — LOADING  THE  CAMEL.  75 

ral  had  the  symbol  of  Isis,  others  of  Anubis  and  Osiris. 
One  of  the  sphinxes  was  thir¬ 
teen  feet  long,  and  nearly  per¬ 
fect,  the  other  was  a  fragment. 

Towards  the  south  were  the 
remains  of  two  columns  having 
capitals  of  the  Corinthian  order, 
though  in  the  form  of  the  shaft 
there  seemed  to  be  an  imitation 
of  the  lotus-leaf.  Among  the 
mounds  we  could  clearly  trace 
buildings  of  brick,  the  bricks 
still  retaining  their  original 
place.  The  remains  of  pottery, 


however,  were  most  remarkable,  consisting  of  jars  of 
the  ancient  form,  without  number,  all  broken  into  frag¬ 
ments,  many  of  them  bearing  the  clearest  marks  of  the 
action  of  fire,  showing  that  God  has  literally  fulfilled  the 
word  of  the  prophet,  “  I  will  set  fire  in  Zoan.”  * 
Returning  to  our  tents,  we  found  eight  camels  waiting 
for  us,  each  attended  by  a  Bedouin.  This  was  our  first 
trial  of  “  the  ship  of  the  desert.”  The  loading  of  the 
camel  is  a  singular  scene.  At  the  word  of  command  the 
animal  sinks  down  upon  the  sand  with  its  limbs  crouched 
under  it.  A  wooden  frame  is  fastened  on  the  highest 
part  of  the  back,  to  which  a  net- work  of  ropes  is  com¬ 
monly  attached,  for  the  convenience  of  enclosing  lug¬ 
gage.  A  carpet  and  covering  are  then  placed  above, 
and  form  a  soft  saddle,  upon  which  the  rider  must  sit 
either  astride  or  sideways,  without  stirrup  or  bridle,  and 
balance  himself  according  to  the  best  of  his  ability.  The 
camel  often  moans  sadly  during  the  time  of  mounting, 
and  sometimes  tries  to  bite.  When  it  rises  there  is  much 
danger  of  being  thrown  over  its  head,  and  then  of  being 
thrown  the  other  way ;  and  the  Arabs  are  very  careless 

*  Ezek.  xxx.  !•*  See  Dr.  Keith’s  Evidences  of  Prophecy,  p.  380,  last  ed 


76 


JOURNEY  IN  THE  DESERT — MENAGHEE. 


in  warning,  for  they  say  no  one  is  hurt  by  a  fail  from  a 
camei.  All  things  being  ready,  we  proceeded  forward 
at  the  slow  rate  of  somewhat  less  than  three  miles  an 
hour.  The  long  step  of  the  camel  causes  a  constant  mo¬ 
notonous  rocking  of  the  body,  which  is  very  fatiguing  at 
first,  and  our  patience  was  tried  by  their  incessantly 
bending  down  their  swan-like  necks  to  crop  the  dry 
pi  ickly  herbage  of  the  desert.  The  Sheikh  presented  us 
with  some  fresh  cucumbers  to  keep  us  from  thirst,  and 
we  listened  with  interest  to  the  short  plaintive  song  of 
the  Bedouins,  who  responded  to  one  another  while  they 
urged  on  their  camels.  We  passed  a  small  hovel  in  the 
sand,  where  the  Arabs  made  a  curious  sound  expressive 
of  superstitious  reverence.  They  told  us  it  was  the 
dwelling  of  a  dervish.  Coming  upon  the  dead  carcase 
of  a  came],  which  two  men  were  flaying  for  the  sake  of 
its  flesh  and  skin,  our  guide  remarked  that,  besides  these, 
the  hair  also  is  valuable,  being  used  in  making  rouo-h 
cloaks  foi  the  Bedouins.  No  doubt  these  are  the  same 
as  the  hairy  garment  worn  by  Elijah*  and  the  “raiment 
of  camel’s  hair”  worn  by  John  the  Baptist. f  All  the  Arabs 
wore  also  a  broad  “  leathern  girdle  about  their  loins.” 

We  frequently  experienced  an  interesting  illustration 
of  a  passage  in  the  prophet  Isaiah.}  About  midday,  when 
the  heat  was  very  oppressive,  a  small  cloud,  scarcely 
observable  by  the  eye,  passed  over  the  disc  of  the  burn¬ 
ing  sun.  Immediately  the  intense  heat  abated,  a  gentle 
breeze  sprung  up,  and  we  felt  refreshed.  “  Thou  shalt 
bring  down  the  noise  of  strangers  (enemies)  as  the  heat 
m  a  dry  place  (a  sandy  desert),  even  the  heat  with  the 
shadow  of  a  cloud;  the  branch  (the  palm  branch  waved 
in  supposed  triumph)  of  the  terrible  ones  shall  be  brought 
low.”  The  immediate  relief  afforded  us  by  the  interpo¬ 
sition  of  a  small  and  almost  imperceptible  cloud,  taught 
us  the  lesson  of  the  prophet — with  what  divine  ease  and 
speed  God  can  relieve  his  suffering  church  and  brino* 
low  her  proudest  enemies.  Again  and  again  in  the 
course  of  our  journey  we  had  occasion  to  quote  the 
words,  and  in  the  spirit  of  Bunyan’s  pilgrim  when  re¬ 
freshed,  said  one  to  another,  “  He  bringeth  down  the 
heat  in  a  dry  place  with  the  shadow  of  a  cloud.” 

In  foui  hours  and  a  half  we  arrived  at  Menaghee,  a  poor 
village,  where  every  house  was  built  entirely  of  mud,§  but 


r  pJS  g  h  8‘,  •  ,  r  +  Matt-  hi-  4-  +  tsa.  xxv.  5 

T  *  1  u3 ^  Ezekiel  refers  to  such  mud  walls  as  these,  xiii.  10 ;  and 
L.ord,  Matt.  vi.  19  (Greek),  “  where  thieves  dig  through  and  steal  ” 


our 


ACCIDENT  TO  DR.  BLACK. 


77 


where  there  was  a  wood  of  fine  palm-trees  and  three 
wells  of  good  water,  so  that  as  we  pitched  our  tents  we 
were  reminded  of  Elim.* 

The  evening  was  pleasant,  and  we  bathed  in  a  part  of 
the  old  Pelusiac  branch  of  the  Nile.  The  river  no 
longer  flows  to  the  sea,  and  its  reeds  are  “  withered, 
driven  away,  and  are  no  more.”f  We  concluded  that 
we  must  be  near  Sin  or  Pelusium,  the  key  of  Egypt  in 
ancient  days.  Beside  this  stream,  we  saw  great  num¬ 
bers  of  ravens,  called  by  the  Arabs  ourab,\  and  many  a 
vulture,  called  daiah,\  hovered  over  us  as  if  desirous  to 
feed  upon  our  flesh.  A  fine  moonlight  night  succeeded. 
The  Arabs  and  camels  formed  a  circle  round  our  tents. 
They  fed  the  camels  with  chopped  straw  and  bran ;  in 
reference  to  which  common  food,  Isaiah  speaks  of  a  bet¬ 
ter  time  that  is  to  come,  when  the  provender  shall  be 
“  winnowed  with  the  shovel  and  the  fan.”||  Talking  to 
Ibraim  about  the  Bedouins,  we  asked  if  the  Arab  sheikh 
could  read.  “No,  no,  (said  Ibraim),  Bedouin-man 
neither  read  nor  write  ;  Bedouin-man  just  like  donkey.” 
There  was  something  in  this  rude  testimony  that  irre¬ 
sistibly  reminded  us  of  the  word  of  God  concerning  Ish- 
mael,  “He  will  be  a  wild  man” — or  more  literally,  «  He 
will  be  a  wild  ass  man.” IT 

(May  25,  Saturday.)  We  were  mounted  on  our  cam¬ 
els  by  sunrise,  and  bade  salaam  to  the  old  sheikh  and 
his  black  attendant,  who  now  took  leave  of  us  in  a  very 
kind  manner,  committing  us  to  the  care  of  the  Bedouins. 
The  sunbeams  glanced  along  the  level  plain  of  the  wild¬ 
erness,  scorching  our  hands  and  faces,  for  we  were 
journeying  nearly  due  east.  Every  hour  it  became  hot¬ 
ter  and  hotter,  and  this,  along  with  the  slow  rocking 
motion  of  the  camel,  often  produced  an  irresistible  drow¬ 
siness — a  feeling  indescribably  painful  in  such  circum¬ 
stances.  About  half-past  nine  o’clock,  a  loud  cry  from 
the  guide  aroused  us  all.  Our  friend  Dr.  Black  had  fallen 
suddenly  from  his  camel.  We  immediately  slipped  down 
from  our  camels  and  ran  to  the  spot.  For  some  time  he 
remained  nearly  insensible,  but  by  the  use  of  such  resto¬ 
ratives  as  we  had,  at  last  began  gradually  to  recover. 
It  was  a  truly  affecting  scene,  which  we  can  never  for¬ 
get.  Far  from  our  kindred,  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  soli- 

*  Exod.  xv.  27.  f  Isa.  xix.  7.  t  Heb.  ^  (oreb) 

§  No  doubt  the  Hebrew  hnt  (daiah).  ||  Isa.  xxx.  24. 

T  Gen.  xvi.  13.  cm  «-)£}. 


9 


78  GOMATTER — A  SABBATH  IN  THE  DESERT. 

tude,  no  living  being  near  except  our  little  company  of 
Arabs,  not  knowing  wliat  might  be  the  extent  of  the  in¬ 
jury  received,  we  felt  how  completely  our  times  were  in 
God’s  hand.  The  Arabs  cheerfully  erected  the  tent,  and 
though  the  water  in  the  skins  was  scarce  and  precious, 
they  sprinkled  some  over  the  tent  to  keep  it  cool — for 
the  thermometer  stood  at  89°  in  the  shade.  The  camels 
couched  on  the  sand  under  the  burning  sun,  and  each 
of  the  Bedouins  made  a  little  tent  of  his  cloak  and  lay 
down  beneath.  We  were  thankful  to  be  able  to  resume 
our  journey,  and  proceed  onwards  to  the  next  stage  to¬ 
wards  the  cool  of  the  day,  intending  to  spend  the  Sab¬ 
bath  there.  The  desert  now  presented  an  unvaried  cir¬ 
cle  of  sand  as  far  as  the  horizon,  sometimes  gathered 
into  little  hillocks,  sometimes  covered  with  stunted 
thorns,  “  the  heath  in  the  desert”  of  which  Jeremiah 
speaks.*  The  sun  went  down  in  the  same  manner  as  at 
sea,  and  bright  moonlight  followed.  Very  weary  we  ar¬ 
rived  at  Gomatter  about  ten  o’clock  at  night.  A  small 
fort,  or  post-house  of  the  Pasha,  and  a  deep  well  of  cold 
water,  were  the  only  objects  of  interest  in  this  desolate 
spot,  where  we  pitched  our  tents  and  sought  rest. 

(May  26,  Sabbath.)  The  Sabbath  dawned  sweetly 
upon  us,  but  soon  it  became  very  hot,  the  thermometer 
being  92°  in  the  shade.  We  rested  in  our  tents,  and 
found  many  of  the  Psalms,  such  as  the  63d,  full  of  new 
meaning  and  power. 

Dr.  Keith  went  up  to  the  post-office,  and  finding  the 
master  very  friendly,  sat  down  with  him  in  the  shade  of 
his  house.  Our  Arab  attendants  also  seated  themselves 
beside  him,  while  he  read  several  passages  of  the  Bible, 
Ibraim  being  interpreter.  They  listened  with  the  utmost 
attention,  putting  in  a  note  of  approbation  again  and 
again.  But  in  the  midst  of  his  occupation,  Ibraim  could 
not  refrain  from  making  his  remarks  on  the  Bedouins. 
Pointing  to  one  man  who  was  staring  with  an  unmean¬ 
ing  countenance,  he  whispered,  “  Look,  look,  now,  is  not 
Bedouin-man  just  like  donkey  ?”f  In  the  evening  we  in¬ 
vited  the  Governor  to  visit  our  tent,  and  seated  him  on 
our  best  carpet  in  the  corner,  the  Bedouins  being  all 
gathered  round  the  tent-door.  Dr.  Black  was  so  far 
well  as  to  be  able  to  address  this  interesting  congrega¬ 
tion.  He  went  over  several  Scripture  narratives,  and 
ended  by  reading  part  of  John  iii.  He  spoke  in  Italian, 
and  Ibraim  interpreted,  but  evidently  not  so  willingly  as 

*  Jer.  xvii.  6.  t  Vide  p.  77. 


CONVERSATION  WITH  IBRAIM  AND  AHMET.  79 

in  the  forenoon.  The  constant  remark  of  the  auditors — 
often,  it  is  to  be  feared,  out  of  mere  courtesy — was  “  Taib , 
Taib ,”  “good,  good,”  or  “ Saheia ,  Saheia ,”  “  very  just.” 
Ibraim  and  Ahmet  spoke  to  us  when  the  rest  were  gone. 
One  of  their  great  stumbling-blocks  seems  to  be  the  pro¬ 
fligate  and  irreligious  conduct  of  professing  Christians. 
Ibraim  related  the  shameful  manner  in  which  a  gentle¬ 
man  at  Cairo  had  treated  him.  Ahmet  started  some 
speculative  questions  regarding  Providence,  and  men¬ 
tioned  some  Frenchmen  who  believed  in  no  God.  We 
explained  the  difference  between  nominal  and  real 
Christians ;  and  Ibraim  remarked  that  he  had  met  with 
good  Christians,  mentioning  with  great  affection  and 
respect  Professor  Robinson  from  America,  with  whom 
he  had  travelled  about  two  years  ago.  Both  of  them 
had  met  with  Joseph  Wolff  in  Mr.  Gliddon’s  house  at 
Alexandria,  and  remembered  him  with  much  interest. 

When  left  alone  we  were  led  to  meditate  on  that  happy 
time  when  Israel  shall  “  arise  and  shine,”  and  the  sons 
of  Ishmael,  the  untamed  wanderers  of  the  desert,  shall 
share  in  the  blessing.  “  The  multitude  of  camels  shall 
cover  thee,  the  dromedaries  of  Midian  and  Ephah ;  all 
they  from  Sheba  shall  come ;”  “  all  the  flocks  of  Kedar  ‘ 
shall  be  gathered  together  unto  thee,  the  rams  of  Nebaioth 
shall  minister  unto  thee.”  * 

(May  27.)  We  were  up  with  the  sun,  and  soon  on  our 
way.  Ibraim  told  us  that  we  were  not  many  days’  jour¬ 
ney  from  Mount  Sinai ;  and  remarked,  that  the  desert 
of  Sinai  (which  he  traversed  with  Dr.  Robinson)  is  very 
different  from  that  which  we  were  now  travelling,  for  it 
has  trees  every  now  and  then.  He  described  a  tree 
very  common  there,  of  which  the  Bedouins  make  char¬ 
coal,  and  which  grows  in  clusters,  called  Santah.  May 
this  not  be  the  Shitta-tree,  or  Shittim-wood  of  the  Scrip¬ 
tures  1  f 

This  is  the  extreme  part  of  the  desert  of  Shur,  where- 

*  Isa.  lx.  6,  7. 

t  Exod.  xxv.  5,  10.  Isa.  xli.  19.  The  Dagesh  in  the  n  of  nntl>  (shittah) 
evidently  points  to  a  letter  which  has  been  dropped,  which  may  be  the 
nun  of  Santah.  By  the  way  we  asked  Ibraim  many  questions  about 
the  names  of  objects  round  us.  He  pointed  to  onions  and  said  the 
name  was  “basel,”  which  resembles  very  closely  the  Hebrew  *?X3 
(batsel) ;  garlick  he  called  toum,  which  is  the  same  as  the  Hebrew  p'Dii? 
(shoumeem),  with  only  a  change  of  the  sibilant.  The  melon  is  in  Ara¬ 
bic  botiach,  an  abbreviation  of  iTt33N  (abatiahh).  All  these  are  men¬ 
tioned  together  in  Numb.  xi.  5,  “We  remember  the  fish  which  we  did  eat 
in  Egypt  freely ;  the  cucumbers,  and  the  melons,  and  the  leeks,  and  the 
onions,  and  the  garlick.” 


80 


DESERT  OF  SHUR — TAHPANHES. 


in  Hagar  wandered.*  It  is  still  overspread  with  stunted 
bushes  and  shrubs ;  and  it  was  no  doubt  under  one  of 
these  that  she  cast  her  child,  f  The  most  common  bush 
is  called  “  atel  ”  or  “  athle ,”  “  the  tamarisk.” 

Not  far  from  this  point  of  the  road  stood  in  ancient 
days  Tahpanhes,  or  Daphne,  and  Migdol,  whither  the 
rebellious  remnant  of  Judah  carried  Jeremiah  after  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the  King  of  Babylon.  \  At 
a  distance  on  the  left,  we  saw  ancient  remains,  which 
the  men  said  were  the  ruins  of  a  city.  The  infallible 
word  of  God  has  been  fulfilled.  “At  Tehaphnehes 
(Tahpanhes)  also  the  day  shall  be  darkened “  a  cloud 
shall  cover  her,  and  her  daughters  shall  go  into  cap¬ 
tivity.”  \  We  met  the  Pasha’s  dromedary-post,  travel¬ 
ling  at  the  rate  of  six  or  seven  miles  an  hour.  We  were 
told  that,  if  he  be  a  few  hours  beyond  his  time,  he  is  in 
danger  of  losing  his  head.  A  little  after  we  met  some 
Bedouins  travelling  on  foot.  Our  guides  recognised 
them,  and  they  kissed  each  other  several  times  with 
great  affection,  reminding  us  of  the  meeting  of  Jacob 
and  Esau.  ||  Before  midday  we  came  to  a  resting-place 
called  Duadahr,  which  means  “  the  Warrior,”  and  our 
'  camels  kneeled  down  beside  a  fine  well,  out  of  which 
the  water  is  drawn  by  a  large  wheel.  This  resting  at 
wells  called  vividly  to  mind  many  Scripture  events. 
Jacob  found  Rachel,  and  Moses  found  Zipporah  at  the 
well.^  It  was  by  a  well  of  water  that  Eliezer,  Abra¬ 
ham’s  servant,  “  made  his  camels  to  kneel  down  at  the 
time  of  the  evening ;”  **  and  many  a  time  did  we  realize 
that  scene. 

On  resuming  our  journey,  the  character  of  the  desert 
was  altered.  Instead  of  a  level  plain,  our  route  lay  over 
sand-hills,  with  considerable  valleys  between.  The  set¬ 
ting-sun,  casting  his  rays  on  these,  had  a  peculiarly 
pleasing  effect;  and  especially  when  the  palm-trees 
adorned  the  heights,  a  mild  desolate  beauty  was  added 
to  the  landscape.  We  understood  that  we  were  ap¬ 
proaching  the  range  of  desert  mountains,  anciently 
called  Mount  Casius.  The  moon  rose  in  clear,  un¬ 
clouded  splendour,  and  under  its  light  we  often  seemed 
to  be  journeying  over  drifted  snow.  Late  at  night  we 
reached  Catieh,  very  weary,  having  spent  about  twelve 
hours  on  the  camel’s  back. 

*  Gen.  xvi.  7.  t  Gen.  xxi.  15.  X  Jer.  xliii.  7;  xlvi.  14. 

§  Ezek.  xxx.  18.  ||  Gen.  xxxiii.  4.  IT  Gen.  xxix.  2;  Exod  ii.  15. 

**  Gen.  xxiv.  11. 


CATIEH — 06MAN  EFFENDI. 


81 


Catieh  is  the  ancient  Casium ,  and  not  far  from  the  sea. 
Like  Elim  it  has  many  wells  of  water,  and  many  palm- 
trees  ;  though  very  sandy,  we  thought  it  the  most  engag¬ 
ing  spot  we  had  yet  seen  in  the  wilderness.  Some  have 
supposed  that  several  of  the  stations  of  the  wandering 
Israelites  were  along  this  track.  For  example,  they  say, 
that  Rissah  was  probably  El  Arish,  and  if  so,  Kehelathah 
must  have  been  near  this  place.* 

(May  28.)  In  the  morning,  while  we  were  seated  at 
breakfast,  the  postmaster,  Osman  Effendi,  visited  our 
tent.  He  willingly  drank  tea,  and  asked  for  a  little  to 
present  to  his  wife,  who,  he  said,  had  learned  how  to 
make  it.  Seeing  that  our  bread  was  very  old,  he  sent 
for  some  new  bread  from  his  own  house,  and  presented 
it  to  us.  He  gave  us  also  a  quantity  of  salted  milk, 
which,  however,  we  could  not  drink.  We  afterwards 
visited  him  in  return  at  his  house,  and  found  him  seated 
on  the  ground  among  some  of  his  younger  servants, 
teaching  them  to  read.  His  whole  manner  and  appear¬ 
ance  recalled  to  mind  the  patriarch  of  the  desert.  He 
inquired  very  kindly  into  Dr.  Black’s  fall  from  the  camel, 
and  asked  if  he  should  order  the  Bedouin  to  be  bastina¬ 
doed.  When  we  told  him  that  we  had  no  such  desire, 
and  that  our  friend  had  recovered  from  the  accident,  he 
said  that  when  we  arrived  at  the  first  town,  our  friend 
should  give  something  to  the  poor  out  of  gratitude  to 
God,  without  letting  any  one  know.  While  we  were  thus 
seated  with  him,  he  had  ordered  his  wife  to  bake  some 
very  nice  sweet  cakes,  which  he  presented  to  us  with 
coffee  in  truly  patriarchal  style.  It  reminded  us  of  Sarah 
making  cakes  upon  the  hearth,  for  her  three  heavenly 
visitors.!  He  told  us  that  he  received  from  the  Pasha 
twelve  dollars  a-month,  sufficiency  of  provisions,  and 
perquisites.  His  house  was  wretched,  the  floor  being 
loose  sand,  but  the  cool  shade  of  the  stone  walls  was 
pleasant.  We  remembered  with  fresh  interest  the  words 
of  Isaiah,  “the  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  aweary  land.”! 

Near  this  spot  are  two  monuments  raised  over  the 
graves  of  two  Marabout  Sheikhs.  The  bodies  of  dead 
saints  are  entombed  within,  and  a  shell  of  a  building 
with  a  white  cupola  is  erected  over  them;  within  this 
the  friends  of  the  departed  frequently  meet  for  prayer. 
These  are  the  “  whited  sepulchres,  which  appear  beauti¬ 
ful  outward,  but  are  within  full  of  dead  men’s  bones,  and 


*  Num.  xxxiii.  22. 


t  Gen.  xviii.  6. 


t  Isa.  xxxii.  2. 


82  JOURNEY  IN  THE  DESERT — “HILLS  OF  SEIR.” 

all  uncleanness.”  *  The  only  remnants  of  antiquity  here 
are  a  marble  pillar  lying  in  fragments  among  palm-trees, 
and  several  heaps  of  brick.  The  extensive  ruins  of  Tel 
Faramah  lie  about  three  hours’  journey  from  this  station, 
and  near  to  the  Salt  Lake.  We  noticed  here  that  most 
of  the  green  patches  in  the  sand  are  the  production  of 
the  beetle’s  industry.  The  beetle  with  amazing  labour 
drags  the  camel’s  dung  into  its  hole  in  the  sand,  and  thus 
a  fruitful  soil  is  formed  ready  to  receive  the  seeds  of 
plants.  To  this  small  insect  probably  we  owe  the  grea¬ 
ter  part  of  the  verdure  of  the  wilderness. 

We  had  rested  the  first  part  of  this  day  in  order  fully 
to  recruit  our  strength.  Towards  evening  we  were 
again  mounted,  and  bade  farewell  to  Catieh.  Our  last 
view  of  our  kind  friend  Osman  Effendi  was  when  he 
was  kneeling  upon  the  sand  near  the  tombs,  and  praying 
with  his  face  towards  Mecca. 

The  desert  was  now  of  a  more  verdant  character ;  and 
as  we  proceeded,  many  flocks  of  goats  were  feeding  by 
the  way,  some  of  which  had  sheep  mingled  with  them ; 
forcibly  reminding  us  of  our  Lord’s  parabolic  account 
of  the  great  day.f  At  present,  the  thoughtless  and  the 
hypocrites  feed  side  by  side  with  the  children  of  God  in 
the  pastures  of  this  world’s  wilderness,  but  the  day  is 
coming  when  He  shall  separate  the  righteous  from  the 
wicked,  “as  a  shepherd  divideth  his  sheep  from  the 
goats.”  The  long  curling  hair  of  these  goats  was  of  a 
beautiful  glossy  black,  showing  us  at  once  the  beauty 
and  propriety  of  the  description  in  the  Song,  “  Thy  hair 
is  as  a  flock  of  goats  that  appear  from  Mount  Gilead.”! 

Sometimes  our  way  was  through  “  a  salt  land  and  not 
inhabited. The  face  of  the  desert  in  these  places  was 
white  with  the  incrustations  of  salt.  This  made  us  un¬ 
derstand  the  expression,  “  He  turneth  a  fruitful  land  into 
barrenness,”  literally  “  into  saltness.”  ||  After  six  hours’ 
journey  we  encamped  at  Beer-el-abd,  “  the  well  of  the 
slave,”  a  desolate  spot. 

Next  morning  (May  29)  we  saw  at  a  distance  a  range 
of  hills  running  north  and  south,  called  by  the  Arabs 
Djebel  Khalil.  They  form  part  of  “  the  hills  of  Seir.” 
After  wandering  so  many  days  in  the  wilderness, 


*  Matt,  xxiii.  27. 
§  Jer.  xvii.  6. 


t  Matt.  xxv.  32. 
II  Ps.  cvii.  34. 


t  Song  iv.  1. 


SERBONIAN  LAKE. 


83 


with  its  vast  monotonous  plains  of  level  sand,  the  sight 
of  these  distant  mountains  was  a  pleasant  relief  to  the 
eye;  and  we  thought  we  could  understand  a  little  of  the 
feeling  with  which  Moses,  after  being  forty  years  in  the 
desert,  would  pray,  “  I  pray  thee,  let  me  go  over  and  see 
the  good  land  that  is  beyond  Jordan,  that  goodly  moun¬ 
tain  and  Lebanon.”* 

Before  noon  the  sudden  sight  of  the  sea,  or  rather  of 
the  famous  Serbonian  lake,  and  the  sea  beyond  it,  made 
us  cry  to  one  another  (in  language  we  had  learned  from 
our  guides,)  “  El  Bahr,  El  JJahr ,”  “the  sea,  the  sea,” 
like  the  joyful  shouts  of  the  ten  thousand  Greeks, 
“  SaAacro-a,  SaXacaa.  ”  The  lake  is  referred  to  by  Milton, 

“  A  lake  profound,  as  that  Serbonian  bog 
Betwixt  Damiata  and  Mount  Casius  old, 

Where  armies  whole  have  sunk.”  t 

The  lake  is  connected  with  the  sea,  but  the  drifting  sands 
keep  it  in  the  state  of  a  morass,  a  sandy  morass.  It  was 
very  shallow  at  this  place :  and  at  the  time  we  bathed  in 
it  the  water  was  tepid.  When  we  came  out,  the  salt  of 
the  wrater  appeared  on  our  bodies  in  the  form  of  a  thick 
crust. 

Returning  to  our  tent,  we  gathered  specimens  of  the 
few  flowers  of  the  desert,  and  in  our  search  found  the 
ground  overrun  with  lizards  and  beetles.  While  seated 
at  our  midday  meal,  a  company  mounted  on  camels 
came  past  us  from  another  quarter  of  the  desert.  One 
of  them  rode  up  to  us,  his  face  scorched  with  the  sun 
and  his  mouth  parched,  his  only  cry  being,  “  Moie,  moie 
“  Water,  water.” 

Towards  evening  we  journeyed  forward  through  a 
more  verdant  part  of  the  desert,  cheered  by  the  view  of 
the  distant  hills,  and  by  the  chirping  (for  there  was  little 
song)  of  the  little  birds  which,  for  the  first  time,  we  ob¬ 
served  among  the  bushes.  The  moon  rose  upon  us  in 
glorious  brightness,  and  late  at  night  we  pitched  our 
tents  in  a  place  called  Abugilbany. 

(May  30.)  In  the  morning,  the  desert  was  really  en¬ 
livened  by  the  chirping  of  birds.  As  a  single  note  of  a 
sweet  song  will  often  revive  a  sad  heart,  so  it  seems  as 
if  the  lively  notes  of  these  birds,  in  a  place  so  desolate  and 
far  from  the  dwellings  of  men,  were  a  kind  arrangement 
of  Providence  in  order  to  refresh  +he  weary  traveller. 


*  Deut.  iii.  25. 


1  Paradise  Lost,  B.  ii. 


84 


JOURNEY  IN  THE  DESERT. 


We  found  the  heat  more  oppressive  this  day  than  we 
had  yet  experienced  it.  The  hillocks  of  sand,  between 
which  we  were  slowly  moving  at  the  usual  camel’s  pace, 
reflected  the  sun’s  rays  upon  us,  till  our  faces  were  glow¬ 
ing  as  if  we  had  been  by  the  side  of  a  furnace.  The  hills 
of  Seir  occasionally  reappeared,  and  on  the  left  the  lake 
stretched  out  in  full  view.  At  one  time  a  fox  started 
from  the  bush  and  fled  before  us.  It  was  to  such  an 
animal  the  prophet  Ezekiel  referred,  “  O  Israel,  thy  pro¬ 
phets  are  like  the  foxes  in  the  desert  hungry  and  anx¬ 
ious  to  find  a  prey. 

Our  track  now  lay  amidst  unusual  plenty  of  herbage 
and  tufts  of  verdant  plants,  a  change  which  became  the 
occasion  of  considerable  annoyance ;  for  the  camels 
were  continually  bending  down  their  long  necks  to  crop 
the  shrubs,  especially  some  species  which  seemed  pecu¬ 
liarly  succulent.  We  saw  in  this  an  illustration  of  the 
description  given  of  the  wild  ass,  “He  searcheth  after 
every  green  thing.”  f  Here,  too,  the  sand  was  occasion¬ 
ally  covered  with  a  crust  of  salt,  as  if  a  salt-lake  had  once 
been  there.  This  also  is  mentioned  in  the  same  passage 
as  a  feature  of  the  scenery,  “  Whose  house  I  have  made 
the  wilderness,  and  the  barren  land  (in  Hebrew  ‘the  salt 
place’)  his  dwelling.”  \ 

Our  guide  now  directed  us  by  a  road  a  little  nearer 
than  that  by  the  sea-side ;  though  much  more  irregular, 
and  over  endless  hills  of  sand.  We  found  the  way  to  be 
a  gradual  ascent,  and  saw  the  minute  correctness  of  the 
Scripture  narrative,  “  a  chariot  came  up  and  went  out  of 
Egypt.”  §  And  again,  “  Who  is  this  that  cometh  up  from 
the  wilderness  1”  ||  In  like  manner,  when  we  met  any 
travellers  going  the  other  way,  they  were,  like  Joseph’s 
brethren,  “  going  down  to  Egypt.”  IT  Perhaps  it  was 
through  this  part  of  the  desert  of  Shur  that  Hagar  wan¬ 
dered,  intending  to  go  back  to  her  native  country;* ** 
and  it  may  have  been  by  this  way  that  Joseph  carried 
the  young  child  Jesus  when  they  fled  into  the  land  of 
Egypt.ff  Even  in  tender  infancy  the  sufferings  of  the 
Redeemer  began,  and  he  complains,  “I  am  afflicted  and 
ready  to  die  from  my  youth  up.”||  Perhaps  these 
scorching  beams  beat  upon  his  infant  brow,  and  this  sand¬ 
laden  breeze  dried  up  his  infant  lips,  while  the  heat  of  the 

*  Ezek.  xiii.  4.  t  Job  xxxix.  8.  t  Job  xxxix.  6. 

§  1  Kings  x.  29.  ||  Song  viii.  5.  IT  Gen.  xlii.  3;  xlvi.  4. 

**  Gen.  xvi.  7.  tt  Matt.  ii.  14.  ft  Ps.  lxxxviii.  15. 


WELLS — OSTRACINE.  85 

curse  of  God  began  to  melt  his  heart  within.  Even  in 
the  desert  we  see  the  suretyship  of  Jesus. 

All  this  day  our  guides  would  not  suffer  us  to  pitch  our 
tents.  They  were  anxious  to  reach  the  first  town  on  the 
Syrian  frontier  before  nightfall,  and  our  store  of  provi¬ 
sions  being  now  exhausted,  Ibraim  urged  us  forward,  in 
spite  of  heat,  fatigue,  and  faintness.  One  half  hour  alone 
we  rested,  and  sought  shelter  under  some  of  the  low 
bushes  of  the  desert,  while  we  satisfied  our  hunger  with 
a  few  raisins  and  a  morsel  of  Arab  cheese.  The  heat 
was  very  oppressive.  Even  the  Bedouins  begged  us  to 
lend  them  handkerchiefs  to  shield  their  faces  from  the 
rays  of  the  sun ;  and  often  ran  before  and  threw  them¬ 
selves  beneath  a  bush  to  find  shelter  for  a  few  minutes. 
How  full  of  meaning  did  the  word  of  the  prophet  appear, 
“  There  shall  be  a  tabernacle  for  a  shadow  in  the  day¬ 
time  from  the  heat.”*  And  again,  “  A  man  shall  be  as 
the  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary  land.”f 

In  the  afternoon,  we  came  in  sight  of  three  wells, 
situated  in  a  lonely  valley.  On  getting  near  the  spot, 
there  was  a  general  rush  down  the  slope  to  reach  the 
water.  The  camel-drivers  ran  forward  to  be  first  there, 
and  we  all  followed,  and  even  the  patient  camels  came 
round  the  wTells  eager  to  drink.  But  to  us,  the  water 
was  Mar  ah ;  we  could  not  drink  it,  for  it  was  muddy, 
and  bitter  too.  We  tried  to  get  a  draught  by  straining 
it  through  a  handkerchief,  but  all  would  not  avail.  Thus 
sadly  were  the  Israelites  disappointed,  for  when,  “  they 
came  to  Marah,  they  could  not  drink  of  the  waters  of 
Marah  for  they  were  bitter.”!  The  Bedouins  seemed  to 
care  nothing  for  the  impurity  of  the  water,  for  they  drank 
largely  and  greedily.  We  imagined  that  thus  eagerly 
Israel  rushed  forward  to  the  clear,  cool  waters  of  the 
Smitten  Rock.§ 

We  now  passed  over  a  sandy  soil,  in  which  small  shells 
abounded,  and  occasionally  heaps  of  stones  that  appear¬ 
ed  to  be  ruins  of  ancient  buildings.  In  these  stones  also 
small  shells  were  imbedded.  It  was  near  this  that  Ostra- 
cine  once  stood,  an  ancient  town,  so  called||  from  the 
circumstance  of  the  shells  found  in  the  soil.  The  setting 
sun  was  pouring  its  last  rays  upon  the  bare  and  desolate 
sand-hills,  as  if  in  vain  attempting  to  clothe  them  with 
beauty,  when  we  came  in  sight  of  El  Arish,  the  frontier 
town  between  Syria  and  Egypt,  the  spot  we  had  so 

*  Isa.  iv.  6.  t  Isa.  xxxii.  2.  f  Exod.  xv.  23. 

5  Exod  xvii.  6.  II  From  oarpaKov  a  shell. 


86 


ARRIVAL  AT  EL  ARISH. 


anxiously  desired  to  reach  before  any  quarantine  should 
be  established  to  delay  our  progress.  We  passed  the 
remains  of  an  old  city,  the  foundations  of  which  we  could 
distinctly  trace,  though  half-buried  in  the  sand.  This 
we  supposed  to  be  the  ancient  Rhinocolura.  In  a  little 
while  after,  our  camels  knelt  down  outside  the  gate  of 
the  small  town  of  El  Arish.  We  encamped  under  a  tree, 
with  a  cluster  of  palms  near,  and  not  far  from  the  bury- 
ing-ground  on  the  N.  W.  of  the  town,  and  on  the  road 
to  Gaza.  The  town  is  situated  on  the  gentle  slope  of  a 
sand-hill  about  two  miles  from  the  sea.  The  castle,  a 
square  building,  not  very  formidable  to  an  enemy,  stands 
on  the  highest  part,  and  the  houses,  dingy,  monotonous- 
looking  buildings,  with  flat  roofs  and  scarcely  any  win¬ 
dows,  slope  down  from  it.  The  population  of  the  town 
cannot  be  more  than  600  inhabitants,  many  of  whom 
were  enjoying  the  cool  breeze  of  evening  on  the  roofs 
of  their  houses.  The  quarantine  established  here  for  all 
who  come  from  Syria  going  down  into  Egypt,  prevents 
the  increase  of  traffic,  people  being  unwilling  to  come 
to  it  from  Syria,  since  they  must  tarry  so  long  in  the 
Lazaretto  near  its  walls.  We  were  told  that,  at  one 
time,  El  Arish  was  surrounded  with  beautiful  gardens, 
but  these  have  been  completely  covered  by  the  desolating 
sand,  and  now  the  only  remains  of  fertility  is  a  grove  of 
young  palms  which  shelter  the  eastern  side  of  the  town. 
We  were  rejoiced  to  find  that  the  quarantine  was  not 
yet  established  for  those  going  to  Syria,  so  that  we  had 
attained  the  object  of  our  journey  through  the  desert. 
This  was  a  new  and  special  call  upon  us  to  give  thanks 
and  praise,  especially  now  when  we  were  "in  sight  of 
the  Promised  Land,  and  our  eyes  rested  on  someof  the 
hills  given  to  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob. 

We  were  outside  the  wall,  but  we  heard  the  call  to 
prayer  from  the  Mosque,  whose  minaret  rises  con¬ 
spicuous  above  the  common  dwellings.  The  cry  of  the 
Muezzin  was  louder  that  evening,  and  more  prolonged, 
because  it  was  Thursday,  the  commencement  of" the 
Mahometan  Sabbath.  The  Mahometans  begin  their 
Sabbath,  like  the  Jews,  at  six  o’clock  in  the  evening,  and 
Friday  is  the  day  which  they  keep  sacred.  The  call  to 
prayer  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  solemn  and  affecting 
parts  of  their  worship  ;  but  the  Mahometans  themselves 
seem  not  at  all  affected  by  it.  Indeed,  their  whole  re¬ 
ligious  services  appear  to  be  empty  forms,  all  voice  and 
gesture,  and  no  feeling. 


VISIT  FROM  THE  GOVERNOR. 


87 


(May  31.)  In  the  morning,  the  place  was  enlivened  by 
the  multitude  of  little  birds  that  chirped  and  sung  among 
the  trees  near  our  tents.  So  small  is  the  traffic  existing 
at  present  between  Egypt  and  Syria,  and  so  little  plenty 
is  poured  over  the  borders  of  the  Promised  Land,  that 
no  articles  of  food  were  to  be  had  in  the  town,  except 
milk  and  Arab  bread.  However,  in  the  midst  of  our 
difficulties,  Ibraim  came  to  tell  us  that  a  man  had  brought 
a  sheep  to  the  tent-door,  wishing  to  sell  it  to  us.  We 
gladly  bought  it  for  twenty-five  piastres,  about  five  shil¬ 
lings  of  our  money.  Our  servants  appropriated  the  skin 
and  wool ;  and  what  became  of  the  head  and  feet  we 
know  not,  only  they  were  not  served  up  to  us  as  they 
would  have  been  in  Scotland. 

A  more  serious  difficulty  than  want  of  food  presented 
itself  in  the  want  of  camels  to  carry  us  on  our  way.  Our 
Bedouins  had  bargained  to  carry  us  to  El  Arish,  and  this 
they  had  faithfully  performed.  But  nothing  would  per 
suade  them  to  carry  us  farther.  In  this  dilemma  the 
Governor  of  the  town  sent  us  word  that  he  would  come 
and  visit  our  tent.  There  is  a  degree  of  real  authority 
suggested  by  the  dress  and  air  and  attendants  of  such  a 
man.  He  came  riding  upon  a  cream-coloured  Arab 
horse,  small  but  fleet,  with  silvery  mane,  flowing  tail, 
and  rich  caparisons.  His  attendants  rode  by  his  side, 
and  even  they  assumed  an  air  of  importance  with  their 
ornamented  girdles,  crooked  scimitars,  and  elegant  east¬ 
ern  attire.  Their  favourite  feat  of  horsemanship  was  to 
gallop  at  full  speed  along  the  sand  or  among  the  palms, 
and  then  suddenly  to  draw  the  rein  and  stop,  making 
the  sand  fly  in  all  directions.  When  the  Governor  was 
fairly  seated  in  the  corner  of  our  carpet,  he  evidently 
wished  to  shew  his  authority  and  importance,  and  to  get 
money  from  us  by  pretending  causes  of  delay ;  but  after 
much  arguing  and  annoyance,  he  at  last  agreed  to 
arrange  with  the  camel-driver  who  had  brought  us  thus 
far,  to  take  us  to  Gaza  for  600  piastres  (about  £6  Ster¬ 
ling) — a  price  double  what  ought  to  have  been  charged, 
but  demanded  at  present  as  necessary  to  remunerate 
the  men  who  would  be  kept  in  quarantine  on  their  re¬ 
turn.  Part  of  the  price  was  accordingly  paid  into  the 
Governor’s  hand,  and  the  interview  ended.  He  after¬ 
wards  sent  us  a  jar  of  cold  water  as  a  present ;  for  “  a 
cup  of  cold  water  only”*  is  a  real  gift  in  this  country. 

*  Matt.  x.  42. 


88 


EL  ARISH. 


In  the  afternoon  he  visited  us  again,  to  announce  that  the 
Bedouins  refused  to  observe  the  contract,  but  that  he 
himself  would  provide  us  with  camels  to-morrow.  We 
suspected  some  fraud  in  this,  but  had  no  remedy.  One 
of  the  Bedouins  on  taking  leave  of  us,  shewed  a  good 
deal  of  feeling,  and  while  all  of  them  kissed  our  hands, 
Ibraim  was  treated  in  the  true  oriental  style,  being  kissed 
on  the  cheek  half  a  dozen  times  ere  they  parted.  The 
sight  of  these  poor  ignorant  Arabs,  often  deeply  im- 
pi  essed  us  with  wonder  at  God’s  kindness  to  ourselves 
Hore  is  election sovereign  grace  alone  makes  us  to 
difter  from  them ! 

Although  our  desert  wanderings  had  delayed  us  lon«er 
than  we  could  have  wished,  yet  we  could  see  a  kmd 
Jrrovidence  leading  us  this  way  to  the  land  of  Israel 
We  were  made  to  sympathize  far  more  than  we  had  ever 
done  with  the  trials  of  Israel  in  the  wilderness,  and  to 
undei  stand  better  how  they  were  so  much  discouraged 
because  of  the  way,  and  how  they  were  so  often  tempted 
to  murmur  against  God. 

How  great  a  blessing  “the  pillar  of  the  cloud”  must 
have  been!  Towering  over  the  camp, it  cast  a  delightful 
shadow  upon  the  sand  over  which  they  moved.  But  still 
more,  what  a  gracious  pledge  it  was  that  their  heavenly 
Guide  would  lead  them  in  the  right  way  to  the  place  of 
rest. 

.  Now,  too,  we  were  taught  the  meaning  of  “  dwelling 
in  tents  with  Isaac  and  Jacob.”  *  Such  a  life  is  one  of 
constant  dependence  and  faith.  In  the  morning  when 
the  tent  is  struck,  the  traveller  never  knows  where  he  is 
to  pitch  it  at  noon  or  evening;  whether  it  is  to  be  beside 
the  palm  and  springs  of  water,  or  in  solitude  and  sand. 

I  ho  description  of  the  joyful  state  of  the  redeemed  given 
in  the  Apocalypse,*]*  seems  to  be  formed  in  reference  to 
such  a  life  as  this.  There  shall  be  no  more  hun°,er 
thii  st,  noi  burning  sun,  but  green  shady  pastures  and 
living  fountains  of  water,  and  the  Lamb  shall  dwell  as  in 
a  tent  {  among  them.  And  all  this  because  they  have 
reached  the  promised  inheritance  their  desert  life  has 
ended,  and  the  Promised  Land  begun. 

We  noticed  that  when  camels  are  sent  out  to  feed  they 
often  sti  ay  over  a  wide  surface.  At  the  place  where  we 
now  were,  the  reason  alleged  for  keeping  us  till  next  day 
was  that  the  camels  had  been  sent  out  to  feed  and  could 

t 


Heb.  xi.  9. 


t  Rev.  vii.  1G,  17. 


< TKrivwaei • 


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« 


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iTfiifYVV?  of 


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LebonoixX  Shiloh 


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Scale  of  Stahite  Allies. 


I.rai^imdt’  East  IV.vm  ittyinvuli 


J.lLVottno  .*v. 


EL  ARISH. 


89 


not  be  found.  A  man  had  been  sent  upon  a  dromedary 
to  look  for  them,  but  could  not  discover  what  direction 
they  had  taken.  This  circumstance  reminded  us  of 
Saul  being  sent  to  seek  his  father’s  asses,  in  days  when 
the  pastures  of  Israel  may  have  been  equally  free.* 

The  evening  was  beautiful.  Indeed,  morning  and 
evening  here,  day  after  day,  have  a  brilliancy  such  as 
we  never  see  more  than  once  or  twice  in  a  year  at  home. 
The  flood  of  light  that  pours  out  of  the  clear,  unclouded 
skies,  reminds  us  of  the  last  words  of  David,  where  he 
compares  the  reigning  of  the  coming  Saviour  “  to  a 
morning  without  clouds,”  f  and  also  of  the  language  of 
the  Psalmist,  “Day  unto  da y pours  out  speech.”! 

The  heat  having  abated,  we  wandered  towards  the 
town.  We  observed  two  very  deep  wells,  arched  over 
to  keep  out  the  sun  and  the  sand.  Two  marble  columns 
were  built  into  one  of  them,  and  broken  pieces  of  marble 
pillars  of  the  Doric  order  were  lying  scattered  in  vari¬ 
ous  places  near  the  town.  To  the  east  a  kind  of  gar¬ 
den,  surrounded  with  a  hedge  of  prickly  pear,  and 
planted  with  palms,  aloes,  and  melons,  seemed  to  strug¬ 
gle  with  the  sand  for  existence.  In  the  town  several 
women  in  the  streets  wore  the  anklet,  “the  tinkling 
ornament  about  their  feet.”  \  We  heard  its  sound  as 
we  passed  along.  Most  of  their  children  had  their 
heads  adorned  with  pieces  of  money.  The  Effendi’s 
child  was  carried  at  the  side,  having  six  or  eight  gold 
coins,  called  harieh,  strung  together  round  the  front 
of  its  cap.  Most  of  the  houses  are  built  completely  of 
mud.  At  present  they  are  as  hard  and  as  dry  as  stone, 
but  we  could  readily  imagine  how  easily  the  overflow¬ 
ing  shower  would  destroy  them,  and  the  stormy  wind 
rend  the  wall.||  The  roofs  of  the  houses  are  all  flat,  and 
communicate  with  one  another.  Often  they  are  made 
of  the  branches  of  the  palm  and  other  trees,  with  the 
leaves  remaining  on  them,  and  coated  over  with  mud. 
If  the  house  mentioned  by  Marker  had  a  roof  of  this 
description,  how  easy  it  would  be  to  break  it  up.  In 
the  court  of  one  of  the  houses  (for  every  house,  however 


*  1  Sam.  ix.  3.  +2  Sam.  xxiii.  4. 

ty'3'  (yabbia.)  Ps.  xix.  2.  Keble  expresses  the  idea  when  he  says, 
that  day  after  day  is  a  “  gushing  fount  of  praise.” 

$  Isa.  iii.  18.  II  Ezek.  xiii.  11.  H  Mark  ii.  4. 


10 


90 


EL  ARISH— -ARAB  OVEN. 


humble,  has  its  court,*)  we  examined  the  Arab  oven,  a 
rude  and  simple  contriv¬ 
ance.  It  is  made  of  clay 
like  their  houses,  quite 
dry  and  hard.  The  low¬ 
er  aperture  is  to  admit 
the  fire,  a  few  cinders  of 
charcoal,  or  some  heated 
stones.  Over  the  fire 
there  is  a  floor  of  clay, 
where  the  dough  is  fired. 

The  upper  aperture  is  for 
putting  in  the  dough  when 
it  has  been  kneaded  and 
divided  into  cakes.  The  roof  of  the  whole,  surrounded 
by  a  parapet,  affords  a  convenient  place  for  the  bread 
gradually  to  cool.  The  kneading  trough  is  a  large 
wooden  bowl,  not  unlike  that  used  in  our  own  country. 

In  the  middle  of  the  town  there  is  a  very  fine  well,  the 
water  of  which  is  drawn  up  by  a  wheel.  We  drank 
freely  for  the  first  time  since  entering  the  desert.  No 
one  who  has  not  wandered  in  arid  regions,  can  imagine 
the  delight  which  cold  water  gives  to  a  thirsty  soul.f 
Toward  sunset,  two  of  our  number  crossed  the  hills  of 
sand  which  enclose  El  Arish,  till  we  came  to  the  ancient 
bed  of  a  broad  river,  about  half  a  mile  east  of  the  town. 
The  channel  is  about  two  hundred  yards  in  breadth, 
distinctly  marked  by  banks  on  either  side.  The  bed 
was  perfectly  flat  and  dry:  but  in  other  days,  when  Ju¬ 
dah’s  rivers  flowed  with  water,  it  must  have  been  a  ma¬ 
jestic  stream,  not  unworthy  to  form  the  boundary  of  the 
land,  if  indeed  (which  is  doubtful)  this  was  “  the  river  of 
Egypt ,”  so  often  referred  to  as  the  limit  of  Israel  on  the 
south.!  A  little  way  further  inward,  the  channel  seemed 
to  be  filled  up  by  sand  drifted  from  the  hills :  but  from 
the  spot  where  we  were,  down  to  the  sea,  a  distance  of 
two  miles,  we  could  distinctly  trace  its  ancient  course. 
We  stretched  ourselves  under  one  of  the  bushes  that 
still  overhang  its  banks,  and  remembering  with  gratitude 
that  we  were  now  within  the  border  of  the  Promised 
Land,  united  in  prayer  for  Israel,  our  Church,  our  distant 
flocks,  and  our  own  souls.  We  then  wandered  home¬ 
wards,  that  is,  to  our  tents — our  only  home  in  this  strange 
land.  The  hills  of  El  Khalil  were  full  in  sight,  and  to¬ 
ward  the  sea  the  Lazaretto  attracted  our  notice  by  the 

*  2  Sam.  xvii.  18.  t  Prov.  xxv.  25.  t  Gen.  xv.  18. 


ARAB  SCHOOL — THE  FORT — THE  GATEWAY. 


91 


patches  of  verdure  round  it.  A  few  palms,  fig-trees, 
aloes,  and  bushes  of  prickly  pear,  also  relieved  the  eye. 
Darkness  came  on  before  we  reached  our  encampment. 

Next  morning  (June  1),  we  found  that  our  patience 
must  be  still  further  tried,  no  camels  having  arrived. 
We  visited  an  Arab  school,  and  found  it  very  clean,  be¬ 
ing  all  white- washed  within,  though  built  of  mud.  Nine¬ 
teen  boys  were  present,  dirty  and  ill  clad,  several  of 
them  affected  in  the  eyes,  and  one  blind.  Two  or  three 
had  Arabic  books  in  MS. ;  the  rest  sat  in  groups,  cross- 
legged,  upon  the  ground,  rocking  to  and  fro  as  they 
bawled  out  in  one  shrill  voice  words  and  syllables, 
which  they  were  reading  from  a  board  held  in  their 
hand.  No  master  was  present,  and  all  went  on  repeat¬ 
ing  without  any  one  superintending.  One  boy  brought 
in  a  jar  of  water,  from  which  all  in  turn  drank  greedily. 
On  the  wall  were  slates  of  tin  with  Arabic  traced  upon 
them. 

This  being  Saturday,  we  remembered  in  looking 
across  the  bed  of  the  ancient  river,  that  on  the  other 
side  in  former  days,  Israel  would  have  been  keeping 
their  Sabbath,  and  Egypt  would  hear  the  praises  of  Je¬ 
hovah  floating  across  the  stream. 

Entering  the  Fort,  we  examined  an  old  trough  of  very 
hard  granite,  quite  covered  with  Arabic  writing,  well 
engraved.  At  midday,  we  went  to  the  gate  to  enjoy 
the  coolness.  The  arched  roof  affords  a  complete  shade 
at  all  times,  and  often  a  pleasant  breeze  passes  through. 
Under  such  a  gateway  probably  Lot  was  seated,  for 
coolness’  sake,  when  the  angels  came  to  Sodom;*  and 
for  the  same  reason,  the  people  of  old  used  to  resort  to 
it,  and  it  became  the  market-place. f  We  saw  how  the 
gate  became  the  seat  of  judgment,];  when  a  little  after 
the  Governor  and  his  Effendi  appeared.  His  attendants 
having  spread  a  mat  and  a  carpet  over  it,  and  a  cushion 
at  each  corner,  he  took  his  seat,  inviting  us  to  recline 
near  him.  We  took  off  our  shoes  and  sat  down.  Our 
conversation  was  very  limited,  as  Ibraim  was  not  with 
us  to  interpret,  but  we  partook  of  coffee  together,  served 
up  in  little  cups,  which  are  every  where  in  use.  The 
Governor  was  interrogating  a  native  Christian  who  stood 
by.  This  man  was  a  Christian  Copt.  He  told  us  in 
broken  Italian  that  he  was  rejoiced  to  meet  us,  because, 
being  almost  the  only  Christian  in  the  place,  he  is  much 

*  Gen.  xix.  1.  t  Ruth  iv.  1,  11.  Ps.  lxix.  12.  Jer.  xvii.  19. 

t  Job  v.  4.  Jer.  xxxviii.  7 :  xxxix.  3.  Amos  v.  15.  Matt.  xvi.  18. 


92  EL  ARISH — INKHORN — CHRISTIAN  COPT. 

despised.  He  wore  “  a  writer’s  inkhorn  by  his  side,”  * 
which  intimates  that  the  person  is  so  far  superior  to  the 
generality  that  he  can  at  least  read  and  write.  The  ink¬ 


horn  has  a  long  shaft  which  holds  the  reeds,  and  is  stuck 
into  the  girdle,  while  the  place  for  the  ink  forms  a  head 
at  the  one  end.  At  our  request  the  Copt  took  out  his 
reeds  and  wrote  very  elegantly.  On  one  of  his  arms,  he 
showed  us  the  figure  of  Christ  on  the  cross  and  the  Vir¬ 
gin  Mary,  punctured  apparently  either  with  henna  or 
gunpowder.  This  is  a  remnant  of  an  ancient  custom 
(common .  even  among  heathens),  by  which  men  would 
show  their  anxiety  to  keep  a  beloved  object  ever  in 
mind.  There  is  no  doubt  a  reference  to  this  custom  in 
the  beautiful  words,  “  Behold  I  have  graven  thee  on  the 
palms  of  my  hands ;  thy  walls  are  continually  before 
me  ;”f  and  also  when  it  is  said,  “  Another  shall  subscribe 
with  his  hand  unto  the  Lord,”  or  more  literally, 
“  Another  shall  write  upon  his  hand,  To  the  Lord,”% — 
words  intended  to  express  the  complete  surrender  which 
a  believer  makes  of  soul  and  body  to  the  Lord  who 
bought  him. 

This  day  we  experienced  the  effect  of  the  wind  raising 
the  sand.  The  wind  was  not  remarkably  strong,  but 
the  sand  was  so  fine  that  it  penetrated  every  where.  No 
tent  nor  portmanteau  could  shut  it  out.  Our  clothes, 
our  food,  the  water  we  drank,  all  were  filled  with  sand. 
At  length  eight  camels  arrived.  We  joyfully  struck  our 
tents,  and  were  conveyed  to  the  Lazaretto  close  by  the 
shore. 

In  our  way  down  we  passed  the  rude  booths  of  palm- 
branches  which  we  had  elsewhere  seen,  and  heard  the 
sound  of  the  mill-stone,  coming  from  one  of  them,  it 
being  now  near  sunset,  the  time  for  the  evening  meal. 
In  the  dry  channel  of  the  river  many  fine  palm-trees 
were  growing,  and  several  luxuriant  plants,  cultivated 
in  holes  dug  for  the  purpose.  Several  gardens  also 
were  laid  out  with  small  canals  intersecting  them,  so 

*  Ezek.  ix.  2.  t  isa.  xlix.  16. 

T  Isa.  xliv.  5.  nun1?  n>  uro' 


LEAVE  EL  AEISH — CAMEL  AND  DROMEDARY. 


93 


that  the  streams  of  water  might  be  conducted  to  the  dif¬ 
ferent  beds  when  needful.  These  are  the  “rivers  of 
water”  mentioned  by  the  Psalmist.*  Nearer  the  shore 
we  saw  rushes,  a  proof  that  the  bed  of  the  ancient  river 
is  still  occasionally  moistened  with  water.  The  Gover¬ 
nor  of  the  Lazaretto,  a  pleasant  Arab,  wearing  the  hyke 
or  wide  mantle,  came  and  conversed  with  us. 

We  now  exchanged  the  camels  which  had  brought  us 
from  the  town  for  seven  camels  and  a  dromedary  belong¬ 
ing  to  the  quarantine.  The  camel  and  dromedary  re¬ 
semble  each  other  in  appearance,  but  the  difference 
between  them  is  not,  as  commonly  stated,  that  the  one 
has  two  hunches  on  its  back  and  the  other  only  one.  It 
is  like  the  difference  between  a  heavy  cart-horse  and  a 
swift  riding-horse.  The  dromedary  is  much  lighter, 
swifter,  and  quicker  in  its  motions;  but  the  Arabian 
camel  and  dromedary  have  both  only  one  hump,  though 
the  camel  of  Bactria  and  other  regions  is  said  to  have 
two.  One  of  our  camels  had  a  young  one  running  by 
its  side.  Under  the  conduct  of  Mustapha — another  Be¬ 
douin  with  fine  Eastern  features — Mahommed,  and  a  boy, 
we  proceeded  across  the  bed  of  the  river,  and  ascended 
the  opposite  bank,  entering  with  joy  the  Land  of  Israel. 

The  country  was  now  very  different  from  the  desert. 
A  range  of  low  sand-hills  lay  between  us  and  the  sea¬ 
shore,  ready  to  fulfil  God’s  work  of  desolation  on  the 
land  within ;  but  the  valley  through  which  we  were  pass¬ 
ing  had  verdure  and  pasturage,  and  opened  into  other 
valleys  of  the  same  character.  The  ground  was  full  of 
holes,  which  we  were  told  were  made  by  the  jerboas. 
Darkness  soon  came  on,  and  we  rested  a  short  time  at 
the  command  of  our  Bedouin,  who  wished  to  feed  his 
camels.  We  kindled  a  blazing  fire  in  the  manner  of  the 
Bedouins,  whose  fires  we  saw  in  several  places  round 
about  us.  The  moon  rose  most  splendidly  as  we  pro¬ 
ceeded,  and  the  birds  in  the  bushes  round  about  began 
to  twitter  and  sing,  as  if  mistaking  the  bright  moon  for 
the  rising  sun.  Though  much  oppressed  with  sleepiness, 
and  often  in  danger  of  falling  from  the  camel’s  back,  yet 
the  pleasantness  of  the  air,  the  change  of  scenery,  and 
the  knowledge  that  we  were  now  traversing  the  portion 
of  the  tribe  of  Simeon,  made  our  journey  comparatively 
easy.  We  arrived  at  Sheikh  Juide,  once  a  village,  now 
only  a  station  and  a  burying-place,  marked  by  the  white 

*  O'D  'jVd  Ps.  i.  3.  Also  Prov.  xxi.  1. 

10* 


94 


STATION  OF  SHEIKH  JUIDE. 


tomb  of  a  Mahometan  saint.  It  has  a  good  well,  some 
fields  of  tobacco,  and  several  palm-trees.  We  pitched 
our  tent  under  a  nabbok- tree,  resembling  a  plane-tree, 
and  felt  how  naturally  it  is  recorded,  “  Deborah  dwelt 
under  the  palm-tree,”  *  “  Saul  tarried  under  a  pomegra¬ 
nate-tree  ;”f  and  of  Abraham,  who  had  received  the  three 
angels  into  his  tent,  that  “  he  stood  by  them  under  the 
tree.”'!  We  spread  our  mats  and  fell  asleep,  thinking 
over  the  Promised  Land,  and  how  in  some  part  of  this 
very  country,  God  had  said  to  Jacob,  as  he  was  stretched 
out  for  rest  with  a  stone  for  his  pillow,  “  The  land  where¬ 
on  thou  liest,  to  thee  will  I  give  it.”$ 

(June  2,  Sabbath.)  Awaking,  we  felt  the  solemnity  and 
privilege  of  spending  a  Sabbath-day  in  the  land  of  Israel. 
We  had  worship  together  in  the  tent,  and  sang  with 
joyful  hearts, 

“  In  Judah’s  land  God  is  well  known, 

His  name ’s  in  Israel  great,”  &c.|| 

With  what  appropriateness  we  could  look  round  on 
every  plain  and  hill  within  our  view  and  say, 

“  There  arrows  of  the  bow  He  brake! 

The  sword,  the  shield,  the  war — 

More  glorious  thou  than  hills  of  prey, 

More  excellent  art  far.” 

We  had  leisure  to  meditate  on  those  portions  of  Scrip¬ 
ture  that  peculiarly  refer  to  God’s  wonders  done  here. 
Between  us  and  the  range  of  hills  to  the  east,  we  had 
reason  to  believe,  lay  the  valley  of  Gerar,  the  valley 
where  Abraham  dwelt, IF  the  land  where  Isaac  sowed, 
and  received  in  the  same  year  an  hundred-fold,  and 
where  he  digged  so  many  wells.**  In  this  region,  too, 
the  Avims  dwelt  till  they  were  destroyed  by  “  the  Caph- 
torims  out  of  Caphtor,”ff  the  ancestors  of  the  Philistines, 
who  in  turn  yielded  to  Judah  and  Simeon.  This  is  the 
highway  down  into  Egypt ;  so  that  by  it  the  Ishmaelites 
would  carry  youthful  Joseph  into  Egypt,  with  their 
camels  bearing  spicery,  and  balm,  and  myrrh, and  by 
this  way  Jacob  would  come  down  with  the  wagons 
which  Joseph  had  sent  to  carry  him. 55  This  tract  was 
in  the  portion  of  Simeon.  Seventeen  cities  with  their 
villages  are  recorded  as  belonging  to  it.||||  But,  where 

*  Judges  iv.  5.  t  1  Sam.  xiv.  2.  t  Gen.  xviii.  8. 

§  Gen.  xxviii.  13.  II  Ps.  lxxvi.  1.  IT  Gen.  xx.  1. 

**  Gen.  xxvi.  12,  18.  tt  Deut.  ii.  23.  tt  Gen.  xxxvii.  25,  28. 

$§  Gen.  xlvi.  1.  till  Josh.  xix.  1 — 9. 


FIRST  SABBATH  IN  HOLY  LAND — COLONY  OF  ANTS.  95 


are  they  now]  The  answer  is  to-be  found  in  the  words 
of  Jeremiah,  “Oh,  thou  sword  of  the  Lord,  how  long 
will  it  be  ere  thou  be  quiet  !  Put  up  thyself  into  thy 
scabbard,  rest,  and  be  still.  How  can  it  be  quiet,  seeing 
the  Lord  hath  given  it  a  charge  against  Ashkelon,  and 
against  the  Sea-shore  ?  there  hath  he  appointed  it.’  * 

The  day  was  very  warm,  but  far  pleasanter  than  in 
the  desert ;  the  breeze  not  having  that  dry,  scorching 
feeling  which  is  so  overpowering  amid  the  sands  of  the 
desert.  We  observed  fields  where  barley  had  been  cut 
down,  and  found  ten  or  twenty  stalks  which  appeared  to 
grow  out  of  the  same  root.  We  learned  that  this  is  the 
way  in  which  they  frequently  sow  the  barley,  making  a 
hole  and  putting  in  many  seeds  together. 

When  the  heat  of  noon  abated,  we  walked  to  a  grassy 
eminence  to  the  eastward,  and  found  that  the  country 
rose  into  a  series  of  gentle  elevations,  bounded  by  a 
range  of  hills  running  parallel  to  the  sea.  Herds  and 
flocks  of  goats  and  asses  were  feeding  in  several  places. 
It  was  pleasant  to  think  of  Isaac  and  his  herdmen  having 
wandered  here.  We  came  upon  an  immense  colony  of 
ants,  all  busily  employed.  They  had  made  a  highway 
from  their  dwelling  of  about  forty  yards  in  length,  and 
this  was  literally  covered  with  a  black  dotted  line  of 
these  moving  insects.  Those  going  out  carried  nothing, 
but  hurried  along  with  great  speed.  Those  returning 
carried  a  seed  or  piece  of  straw.  Another  band  were 
employed  in  carrying  out  a  grain  of  the  soil  from  the 
camp,  making  room" for  the  new  supply.  The  Arabs 
call  them  by  the  Hebrew  term  nimla.  We  read  oyer 
Proverbs  vi.  6-1 1 ;  and  thus  got  a  Sabbath  lesson  applied 
with  power  even  in  the  wilderness — a  lesson  of  constant 
untiring  diligence  in  the  work  of  the  Lord.  We  prayed 
together,  feeling  that  the  land  was  fitted  to  make  us  ask 
much,  for  from  these  heavens  the  Holy  Spirit  had  de¬ 
scended  on  many  a  prophet  and  many  a  saint.  May 
such  men  be  raised  in  our  day,  and  Israel  be  so  blessed 
again,  and  the  same  Spirit  who  visited  them  visit  our 
land!  The  evening  closed  calmly  round  us  in  our  tents. 

(June  3.)  We  left  Sheikh  Juide  before  6  a.  m.,  pleasant 
clouds  veiling  the  sun.  Our  course  lay  northward  on 
the  road  to  Gaza.  The  same  low  sand-hills  were  still 
between  us  and  the  sea,  but  there  was  considerable  ver¬ 
dure  on  the  undulating  plains  through  which  we  passed. 
The  road  is  not  like  a  king’s  highway  with  us,  made  be- 

*  Jer.  xlvii.  G,  7. 


96 


ROAD  TO  GAZA — KHANOUNES. 


fore  it  is  travelled,  but  is  made  by  the  feet  of  the  animals 
that  travel  it ;  and  as  camels  generally  follow  one  ano¬ 
ther,  it  consists  of  many  narrow  paths  in  one  broad  way. 
We  counted  fifteen  or  twenty  of  these  narrow  paths 


mingling  with  each  other,  in  a  breadth  of  thirty  or  forty 
yards.  V erdure  and  wild  genista  often  occurred  between 
the  paths,  so  that  the  camels  were  frequently  bending 
their  long  necks  to  feed  as  we  journeyed.  We  notice 
this,  because  it  seems  to  illustrate  the  description  of  wis¬ 
dom  in  Proverbs,  “  She  standeth  by  the  way  in  the  places 
of  the  paths  *  Hence  also  the  expression.  “  Hold  up 
my  goings  in  thy  paths  ;”f  and  in  the  23d  Psalm,  “  He 
leadeth  me  in  the  paths  of  righteousness |  and  the 
declaration,  “  Broad  is  the  way  which  leadeth  to  de¬ 
struction,”  $  hints  at  its  many  paths.  The  country  we 
passed  through  this  day  was  a  light  pasture  land,  with 
plains  and  straths  of  vast  extent.  We  observed  all  the 
animals  mentioned  in  Scripture  ||  as  belonging  to  the 
original  inhabitants, — sheep,  oxen,  asses,  and  camels.  In 
some  places  the  divisions  of  the  fields  were  marked  out ; 
a  bunch  of  broom  tied  up  formed  the  landmark.  Some 
fields  had  been  ploughed  in  a  very  slight  manner.  These 
signs  of  approaching  cultivation  were  pleasant  as  we 
came  up  from  the  wilderness. 

Our  guides  pointed  out  the  site  of  Rapha,  the  ancient 
Raphia ,  on  our  left  near  the  sea,  hid  from  our  view  by 
mounds  of  sand. 

At  midday  we  arrived  at  Khanounes,  the  ancient  Je- 
nysus ; — its  Scripture  name  is  unknown.  We  had  ex¬ 
pected  to  find  rest  and  refreshment  here,  but  a  complete 
hurricane  of  wind  blew  the  small  dry  sand  full  in  our 
faces  for  about  an  hour.  It  was  vain  to  attempt  putting 
up  the  tent,  so  that  we  were  forced  to  shelter  ourselves 

*  Prov.  viii.  2.  t  Ps.  xvii.  5.  t  Ps.  xxiii.  3. 

$  Matt.  vii.  13.  ||  1  Sam.  xxvii.  9. 


A  HURRICANE — BAZAAR — INHABITANTS.  9 7 

from  the  combined  heat  and  storm  of  the  sirocco,  by 
wrapping  ourselves  in  our  carpets,  and  lying  on  our 
faces  at  the  roots  of  some  large  sycamore-trees,  till  it 
abated.  We  thought  of  Isaiah,  “A  man  shall  be  as  an 
hiding-place  from  the  wind,  and  a  covert  from  the  tem¬ 
pest  *  and  “  a  refuge  from  the  storm,  a  shadow  from  the 
heat,  when  the  blast  of  the  terrible  ones  is  as  a  storm 
against  the  wall.”f  An  old  Arab  took  special  charge  of 
us,  asking  our  names,  and  leading  us  through  the  town 
in  a  most  friendly  manner. 

Khanounes  is  beautifully  situated  amidst  many  trees, 
chiefly  of  the  species  called  “  Djumaiz”  or  sycamore, 
which  bears  a  fruit  very  like  a  fig,  while  its  leaves  are  like 
those  of  the  mulberry-tree.  The  village  is  surrounded 
by  fields  of  tobacco  planted  by  their  Mahometan  posses¬ 
sors,  and  this  is  one  of  the  commonest  productions  of  the 
Holy  Land,  showing  that  it  has  become  the  heritage  of 
the  heathen,  who  sow  Israel’s  fields.  The  houses  were 
as  substantial  as  mud-brick  walls  can  be  supposed  to  be. 
The  old  fort  seemed  to  be  a  place  of  distinction,  having 
a  long  inscription  in  Arabic  round  the  interior  of  the 
porch.  The  bazaar  consisted  of  a  small  row  of  wretched 
shops ;  whose  owners  were  squatted  each  before  his  door, 
smoking  his  pipe,  and  selling  barley,  beans,  apricots, 
cucumbers,  raisins,  charcoal,  pipes,  and  a  few  trinkets. 
We  sat  down  in  the  shade,  and  all  the  inhabitants,  young 
and  old,  gathered  round ;  but  unable  to  speak  their  lan¬ 
guage,  we  could  only  minister  kindness  to  them,  allow¬ 
ing  them  to  examine  our  veils,  straw-hats,  and  watches, 
which  were  subjects  of  endless  wonder.  One  man  wore 
two  or  three  beads  pendant  from  his  forehead.  He  said 
it  was  a  charm  to  keep  his  eyes  from  blindness.  An¬ 
other  came  with  a  diseased  neck,  to  which  he  pointed  in 
silence  with  his  finger,  intimating  that  he  desired  to  be 
healed.  This  brought  Jesus  and  his  wonders  of  mercy 
to  mind  in  a  most  affecting  manner.  We  assured  him 
that  we  had  no  gift  of  healing.  Meanwhile  Ibraim  had 
searched  the  town  to  find  substantial  provisions,  but  in 
vain;  he  could  not  even  procure  a  cake  of  bread.  We 
were  offered  unground  barley,  which  a  native  could  have 
used  without  much  trouble  by  means  of  the  hand-mill ; 
for  we  learned  by  experience  that  it  is  the  custom  in  the 
East  to  grind  morning  and  evening  just  as  much  as 
serves  for  daily  use.  Hence  the  necessity  of  the  law, 
“No  man  shall  take  the  nether  or  the  upper  millstone  to 
*  Isa.  xxxii  2.  t  Isa.  xxv.  4. 


98 


VILLAGE  OF  BENNISHAIL. 


pledge,  for  he  taketh  a  man’s  life  to  pledge.”  *  We  learn¬ 
ed  also  that  this  country  is  not  now  what  it  once  was, 

“  a  land  wherein  thou  shait  eat  bread  without  scarceness, 
and  not  lack  any  thing  in  it.”f  In  the  market  the  people 
were  using  stones  instead  of  regular  weights,  according 
to  the  ancient  mode4  The  writer’s  inkhorn  was  worn 
by  two  or  three  at  the  bazaar.  At  the  entrance  of  the 
town  stands  the  chief  object  of  interest,  the  public  well, 
at  which  we  drank  large  and  refreshing  draughts  of  de¬ 
lightful  water.  A  camel  turned  the  wheel,  and  the  water 
was  brought  up  in  small  earthen  jars,  which  emptied 
themselves  into  a  trough.  This  is  called  the  Persian 
wheel.  The  well  is  evidently  the  rendezvous  for  idlers, 
gazers,  and  talkers,  and  as  much  a  place  of  public  resort 
as  the  market.  Old  and  young,  cattle  and  camels,  were 
gathered  thither.  The  coolness  of  the  spot,  and  the  pros¬ 
pect  of  meeting  others,  no  doubt  induce  many  to  take 
their  seat  by  the  well’s  side.  A  little  way  out  of  the 
town  was  the  burying-ground.  Some  men  were  dig¬ 
ging  a  grave.  One  man  dug  with  a  pick-axe,  then  took 
a  basket  and  with  his  hands  scraped  into  it  the  earth  he 
had  loosened,  and  handed  up  the  basket  to  those  above. 
At  the  same  place,  one  of  our  attendants  was  met  by  an 
old  acquaintance,  a  Bedouin.  They  saluted  each  other 
kindly,  kissing  three  times. 

After  partaking  of  some  rice  and  ripe  apricots,  we  re¬ 
sumed  our  journey  about  six  o’clock  in  the  evening.  The 
camels  moved  on  through  a  very  level  and  broad  plain, 
which  retained  more  of  its  grassy  verdure  than  any  we 
had  yet  passed  through.  The  descending  sun  shone 
mildly,  the  stormy  wind  had  fallen,  many  flocks  were 
browsing  on  each  side  of  the  road,  and  there  was  reviving 
freshness  in  the  evening  breeze.  About  half  an  hour  N.  E. 


*  Deut.  xxiv.  6.  +  Deut.  viii.  9. 

t  Deut.  xxv.  13.  Prov.  xvi.  11.  See  margin. 


ROAD  TO  GAZA — SYCAMORES. 


99 


from  Khanounes  is  a  small  village  called  Bennishail,  built 
apparently  of  mud  bricks,  but  embosomed  in  trees,  among 
which  a  solitary  palm  raised  its  head.  The  name  of  the 
town  is  taken  from  the  Arabic  name  of  one  of  the  con¬ 
stellations.  It  stands  upon  the  summit  of  a  rising 
ground,  and  the  channel  of  a  stream,  which  at  one  time 
had  watered  its  gardens,  but  is  now  dry,  can  be  plainly 
traced.  It  may  occupy  the  place  of  some  of  Simeon’s 
cities,  “  Hazar-Susah,”  or  “  Baalath-beer,  Ramath  of  the 
south.”  *  Some,  indeed,  have  supposed  Khanounes  to  be 
“  Ramath  of  the  south,”  but  the  word  “  Ramath”  means 
“  high  ground,”  a  name  which  could  not  apply  to  Kha¬ 
nounes,  but  would  suit  well  the  situation  of  this  pleasant 
village,  for  the  towers  ( Ramoth )  on  that  slope  would 
glance  beautifully  in  the  setting  sun,  even  as  do  now 
its  figs  and  solitary  palm.  The  birds  were  singing  very 
sweetly.  Many  old  and  verdant  sycamores,  with  gnarled 
trunks  and  branches  spreading  out  toward  the  east, 


adorned  the  plain.  If  the  sycamore  of  Zaccheus  was 
like  these,  we  see  how  easily  he  could  climb  it,  and  how 
safely  he  could  lie  upon  its  branches,  and  see  Jesus  pas¬ 
sing  beneath.f  The  height  of  it,  also,  (for  it  is  among 
the  highest  trees  in  Palestine,)  may  have  afforded  another 
reason  for  his  choice.  It  is  said  of  Solomon,  that  “  he 
made  cedars  to  be  as  the  sycamore-trees  that  are  in  the 
vale  for  abundance,”!  which  shows  that  in  his  day  the 
sycamore  grew  in  great  plenty,  probably  in  this  very 
plain  along  the  Mediterranean.  At  present  they  are  far 
from  being  abundant.  Indeed,  trees  of  any  kind  are 


t  1  Kings  x.  27. 


*  Josh.  xix.  8 


t  Luke  xix.  1 — 4. 


100 


VILLAGE  OF  DAIR — THE  BROOK  BESOR. 


few  in  the  Holy  Land.  The  palm  especially  occurs 
only  here  and  there,  for  it  requires  cultivation,  and  has 
therefore  gradually  decreased  in  a  country  where  it  was 
no  more  attended  to.  The  emblem  of  triumph  has  with¬ 
ered  away  from  the  land  of  Judah  !  The  terebinth  also 
(generally  rendered  oak  in  our  version)  is  very  rare.* 
“  All  the  trees  of  the  field  are  withered,  because  joy  is 
withered  away  from  the  sons  of  men.”f 
'We  met  several  of  the  Bedouin  Shepherds  riding  on 
asses,  driving  home  their  cows,  sheep,  and  goats.  Our 
guides  told  us  that  in  all  this  region  they  drive  their  flocks 
home  at  evening,  because  of  the  many  wolves,  which 
would  render  it  hazardous  to  leave  them  in  the  open 
fields  during  night.  In  this  way  the  prophecy  is  fulfilled, 
“  And  the  sea-coast  shall  be  dwellings  and  cottages  for 
shepherds  and  folds  for  flocks.”};  A  little  after  we  heard 
for  the  first  time  the  loud  painful  cry  of  the  wolf  not  far 
off.  Passing  up  a  gentle  ascent,  there  was  a  village  on 
our  left,  called  Dair  or  Adair,  conjectured  by  some  to  be 
the  Adar  of  Scripture, 5  but  as  darkness  had  come  down 
upon  us,  we  could  only  hear  the  barking  of  its  dogs. 

We  had  already  crossed  the  dry  beds  of  two  torrents, 
and  now  came  to  a  third,  broader  than  any  of  the  rest, 
but  quite  as  dry,  called  Wady  Saiga.  Perhaps  this  may 
be  the  brook  Besor,  memorable  in  the  history  of  David, || 
as  the  place  where  200  of  his  valiant  men  remained  be¬ 
hind  when  he  pursued  the  Amalekites.  In  comparing 
the  narrative  of  that  pursuit  with  the  features  of  the 
country,  there  are  minute  coincidences  worthy  to  be  ob¬ 
served.  The  young  Egyptian  said  to  David,  “  I  will 
bring-  thee  down  to  this  company.”1T  The  reference  here 
is  evidently  to  those  gentle  ascents  up  which  we  were 
travelling.  David  and  his  men  were  coming  from  the 
north,  hence  it  is  truly  said  that  they  were  “  brought 
down.”  Again,  it  is  said  of  the  Amalekites,  “  Behold 
they  were  spread  abroad  upon  all  the  earth.”  **  They 
were  scattered  over  those  open  fields  and  plains,  care¬ 
lessly  enjoying  themselves.  Some  hours  after  we  crossed 
another  bed  of  a  river,  which  the  Arabs  called  Wady 
Gaza.  The  banks  were  steep  and  the  channel  broad  at 
the  point  where  we  crossed.  When  we  met  with  so 

*  Rosenmueller  supposes  that  the  rareness  of  this  tree  may  be  account¬ 
ed  for.  It  produces  turpentine  ;  and  if  incisions  are  not  made  during 
summer  in  its  bark,  the  resinous  matter  accumulates,  swells  the  bark, 
cracks  the  stem,  and  then  exudes  in  such  quantity  that  the  tree  is  often 
destroyed.  t  Joel  i.  12.  t  Zeph.  ii.  6.  $  Josh.  xv.  3. 

II  1  Sam.  xxx.  10-  IT  1  Sam.  xxx.  15.  **  lb.  verse  16. 


ENVIRONS  OF  GAZA. 


101 


many  dry  channels  of  streams  in  the  south  of  the  Holy 
Land,  we  remembered  with  interest  the  prayer  of  Israel, 
“  Turn  again  our  captivity,  O  Lord,  as  the  streams  in 
the  south.”*  These  have  no  water  within  their  banks, 
except  when  the  rain  descends ;  they  wait  for  rain,  iike 
the  souls  of  the  men  of  Israel ! 

-  We  encamped  at  midnight  upon  the  sand-hills,  within 
half  an  hour  of  Gaza. 

In  the  morning  (June  4)  we  were  told  that  the  plague 
was  raging  within  the  walls  of  Gaza,  and  that  fifteen 
persons  had  died  that  week.  Our  camel  drivers  now 
refused  to  carry  us  any  farther,  having  completed  their 
contract;  and  as  there  had  been  neither  camels  nor 
mules  to  be  had  in  Gaza  for  thirty  days,  the  plague  hav¬ 
ing  suspended  all  intercourse  with  other  places,  we  had 
to  make  up  our  minds  to  remain  here  all  day.  Our  ser¬ 
vant  Ibraim  was  despatched  to  lay  our  case  before  the 
Governor,  and  try  to  get  an  arrangement  made.  The 
Governor  behaved  with  great  politeness,  only  regretting 
that  we  had  not  a  firman  from  the  Pasha  of  Egypt,  in 
which  case  he  could  have  compelled  the  men  to  carry  us 
forward.  This  was  almost  the  only  instance  where  we 
had  any  reason  to  regret  the  want  of  a  firman.  As  it 
was,  the  Governor,  finding  that  we  had  no  other  hope  of 
getting  away,  took  it  upon  him  to  command  the  camel- 
driver  to  arrange  with  us  and  go  forward  next  morning. 
Meanwhile,  we  wandered  over  the  sand-hills  on  which 
we  had  pitched  our  tents,  that  we  might  view  the  town 
and  adjoining  country.  Beneath  us  on  the  north-west 
lay  the  high  road  to  Gaza,  the  same  as  in  ancient  days, 
but  lonely  and  still,  except  when  the  shepherds  and  their 
flocks  passed  by.  “  The  earth  mourneth  and  fadeth  away, 
few  men  are  left.”f  Whether  the  Ethiopian  eunuch  had 
come  thus  far  or  not,  it  was  this  tract  of  road  he  was 
traversing:  and  it  may  have  been,  while  his  chariot 
moved  heavily  and  noiselessly  over  these  sands,  that 
Philip  had  the  opportunity  of  running  up  to  him,  and 
speaking  the  words  of  eternal  life.|  We  sat  down  on 
the  northern  extremity  of  the  mounds  of  sand,  a  spot 
which  beautifully  overlooks  the  modern  town  of  Gaza. 
The  evening  sun  shone  sweetly  through  the  beautiful 
gardens,  fine  old  figs  and  sycamores,  and  curious  hedges 
of  prickly  pear.  The  minarets  and  other  buildings  rose 
above  the  trees,  and  we  listened  with  delight  to  the  soft 


*  Ps.  cxxvi.  4.  Josh.  xv.  19.  +  Isa.  xxiv.  4,  6.  t  Acts  viii.  26. 

11 


GAZA— ’VIEW  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 


JU'2 


voice  of  the  turtle  heard  in  the  land,  and  the  voices  of 
the  little  children  at  play.  We  were  told  that  there  are 
about  3000  inhabitants,  though  others  say  above  10,000. 

Whilst  we  gazed  upon  this  peaceful  scene,  we  felt  it 
hard  to  think  that  this  was  a  land  on  which  God  was 
“  laying  his  vengeance.”  *  It  appeared  at  first  as  if  there 
had  been  no  fulfilment  of  those  distinct  predictions, 
“  Gaza  shall  be  forsaken,”!  and  “  baldness  has  come  upon 
Gaza.”J  But  when  we  had  completed  our  investigation, 
we  found  that  not  one  word  had  fallen  to  the  ground. 

We  separated  in  order  to  obtain  different  views  of  this 
interesting  spot.  Dr.  Black  remained  to  examine  more 
fully  the  hills  of  sand.  Dr.  Keith  took  the  direction  of 
the  sea,  which  is  about  three  miles  distant  from  the  mo¬ 
dern  town,  starting  the  idea,  that  in  all  probability  these 
heaps  of  sand  were  covering  the  ruins  of  ancient  Gaza. 
The  ancient  town  occupied  a  site  much  nearer  the  sea. 
The  rest  of  us  took  the  direction  of  the  most  prominent 
hill  in  the  landscape  lying  N.  E.,  and  overhanging  the 
modern  town.  Crossing  a  wady  quite  dry,  we  climbed 
the  hill,  which  is  less  than  100  feet  high.  Wild  thyme  is 
the  chief  plant  upon  it,  loading  the  air  with  fragrance, 
and  a  torrent  forces  its  way  down  a  ravine  in  winter. 
The  top  is  ornamented  with  the  white  tomb  of  a  Maho¬ 
metan  saint.  The  evening  was  uncommonly  sweet,  and 
the  birds  were  singing  among  the  olive  and  fig-trees  in 
the  gardens  that  stretch  from  the  town  to  the  base  of  the 
mount.  From  this  point,  the  town  appeared  much  poorer 
and  more  wretched  than  we  had  supposed.  The  flat- 
roofed  huts  without  windows  seemed  to  be  all  of  mud. 
The  four  mosques,  the  ruins  of  an  ancient  church,  and 
other  edifices  among  the  beautiful  trees,  were  the  chief 
ornaments.  Looking  to  the  east,  we  enjoyed  a  pleasant 
view  of  the  undulating  pasture-land,  not  unlike  some 
parts  of  Dumfriesshire ;  while  to  the  north,  gardens  and 
olive  groves  were  stretched  out  as  far  as  what  we  thought 
might  be  the  valley  of  Eshcol.  As  we  stood  among 
.ombs  on  the  top  of  the  mount,  we  concluded  that  this 
was  the  hill  to  the  top  of  which  Samson  carried  the  gates 
of  Gaza,  the  two  posts,  the  bar  and  all, 5  a  monument  of 
triumph  in  view  of  the  whole  city,  whom,  as  leader  of 
Israel,  he  had  baffled  even  at  the  time  when  his  own  sins 
hung  heavy  upon  him.  Although  it  is  not  high,  yet  from 
its  top  you  may  see  the  heights  that  overhang  Hebron, 

t  Zeph.  ii.  4. 

§  Judg  xvi.  3. 


*  Ezek.  xxv.  17. 
t  Jer.  xlvii.  5. 


FULFILMENT  OF  PROPHECY. 


103 


so  that  it  is  called  “  the  hill  that  is  before  Hebron.”  The 
ridge  of  hills  lying  to  the  east,  is  probably  Ramath-lehi, 
“  the  heights  of  Lehi.”  * 

Returning  to  our  tents,  we  were  now  prepared  to 
verify  Dr.  Keith’s  conclusion,  of  the  truth  of  which  he 
had  been  fully  satisfied,  namely,  that  these  hills  of  sand, 
where  we  had  pitched  our  tents,  really  cover  the  ruins 
of  ancient  Gaza.  Each  of  us  had  found  fragments  of 
polished  marble  in  the  flat  hollows  between  the  sand¬ 
hills,  the  remains  no  doubt  of  “  the  palaces  of  Gaza 
and  also  masses  of  fused  stones,  proving  that  God  had 
“  sent  a  fire  on  the  wall  of  Gaza.”  f  We  now  saw  in  a 
manner  we  had  never  done  before,  that  God  had  fulfilled 
his  own  word,  “ Baldness  is  come  upon  Gaza”  %  We 
saw  that  not  merely  mourning ,  such  as  “  baldness”  indi¬ 
cated  in  ancient  times,  but  literally  and  most  remark¬ 
ably  the  appearance  of  baldness  has  come  upon  Gaza. 
No  sort  of  verdure,  not  a  single  blade  of  grass,  did  we 
see  upon  these  sand-hills.  One  solitary  tree  there  was, 
which  only  served  to  make  the  barrenness  more  remark¬ 
able.  This  barren,  bare  hill  of  sand  is  the  bald  head  of 
Gaza.  5  How  awfully  true  and  faithful  are  the  words  of 
God! 

All  along  the  coast  of  Philistia,  we  had  seen  how  ac¬ 
curately  these  words  are  fulfilled,  “  I  will  stretch  out  mine 
hand  upon  the  Philistines,  and  I  will  cut  off  the  Chere- 
thims,  and  destroy  the  remnant  of  the  sea-coasts,”  ||  there 
being  now  none  of  all  those  ancient  warriors  that  used 
to  issue  from  these  coasts  and  penetrate  into  the  heart 
of  Judah.  We  saw  also  the  fulfilment  of  this  word, 
“  The  king  shall  perish  from  Gaza,”  IF  a  paltry  governor 
being  now  its  ruler,  not  engaged  in  affairs  of  state,  but 
in  helping  travellers  to  find  camels  for  their  journey. 
We  were  much  struck  likewise  by  observing  how  truly 
“  the  sea-coast  had  become  dwellings  and  cottages  for 
shepherds  and  folds  for  flocks,”  **  for  few  of  the  fields 
are  cultivated,  and  the  hills  and  vales  are  so  completely 
pastoral,  that  from  one  rising  ground  we  counted  ten 
large  flocks  and  herds.  One  prophecy,  however,  re¬ 
garding  this  region  remains  yet  to  be  fulfilled,  “  The 
coast  shall  be  for  the  remnant  of  the  house  of  Judah ; 
they  shall  feed  thereupon:  in  the  houses  of  Ashkelon 


*  Judg.  xv.  17.  +  Amos  i.  7. 

§  See  Dr.  Keith’s  remarks  made  on  the  spot,  at  p. 
dence  of  Prophecy,  23d  edition. 

II  Ezek.  xxv.  16.  ^  Zech.  n  5. 


f  Jer.  xlvii.  5. 
253  of  his  Evi- 

**  Zeph.  ii.  6. 


104  GAZA — ARAB  CUSTOMS — WINNOWING  BARLEY. 

shall  they  lie  down  in  the  evening ;  for  the  Lord  their 
God  shall  visit  them,  and  turn  away  their  captivity.”  * 
Precious  ray  amidst  the  gloom !  Speedily  may  the  pro¬ 
mise  come  to  pass ! 

During  our  ramble,  we  had  met  with  some  interesting 
customs  of  the  East.  A  kind  Arab  came  forward  from 
his  tent  as  we  passed,  offering  us  the  refreshment  of  a 
drink  of  water,  saying,  “  Tesherbetu  moie ,”  “  Will  you 
drink  water  1”  The  promise  of  our  Lord,f  seems  to  refer 
to  cases  like  this,  where  the  individual,  unasked,  seeks 
out  objects  on  whom  to  show  kindness.  The  least  de¬ 
sire  to  bless  one  who  is  a  disciple  shall  not  lose  its  re¬ 
ward.  At  another  place  we  came  upon  “  the  tents  of 
Kedar.”|  The  tents  of  the  Bedouins  are  of  a  dark- 
brown  colour,  made  of  goat’s  hair,  and  rudely  stretched 
on  four  poles.  How  striking  the  contrast  between  these 
and  “  the  curtains  of  Solomon  !” — the  splendid  hangings 
of  his  pavilion,  which  were  no  doubt  like  those  of  Ahas- 
uerus,  “  white,  green,  and  blue,  fastened  with  cords  of 
fine  linen  and  purple,  to  silver  rings  and  pillars  of  mar¬ 
ble.”  §  In  one  of  the  Arab  huts  the  inmates  were  grind¬ 
ing  at  the  mill,  and  we  helped  them  to  move  round  the 
upper  millstone.  Again,  we  came  upon  an  Arab  cot¬ 
tage,  made  of  branches  of  trees,  and  found  the  whole  fam¬ 
ily  seated  on  the  sand  before  the  door.  After  the  usual 
salaam,  they  gave  us  bread  warm  from  their  oven,  with 
a  look  of  great  kindness,  and  refused  to  take  any  money 
in  return.  In  one  field,  the  men  were  ploughing  with 
oxen.  In  another  under  the  hill,  they  were  winnowing 
barley,  casting  it  up  to  the  wind  with  a  sort  of  wooden 
shovel  or  fan.  The  corn  lay  in  heaps  not  bound  in 
sheaves. 

Returning  in  the  evening  through  fields  of  melons,  we 
disturbed  “the  keepers  of  a  field,”  the  same  as  those 
mentioned  by  the  prophet. ||  A  rude  shed  made  of  four 
upright  poles,  that  supported  a  covering  of  twined 
branches,  protected  from  the  weather  an  old  decrepit 
Arab,  who  sat  watching  against  any  intrusion  that  might 
be  made  by  man  or  beast  upon  his  field.  In  passing 
through  a  large  flock  of  sheep,  we  remarked  how  familiar 
they  appeared  to  be  with  the  shepherd,  showing  no  signs 
of  timidity  at  his  closest  approach.  Their  large  heavy 
tails  are  also  very  remarkable.  These  are  chiefly  com¬ 
posed  of  fat,  and  are  particularly  referred  to  in  the  Mo- 

*  Zeph,  ii.  7.  t  Matt.  x.  42.  +  Song  i.  5. 

§  Esth.  i.  6.  ||  Jer.  iv.  17. 


DEPARTURE  FROM  GAZA.  105 

saic  Law  *  as  the  pieces  that  were  to  feed  the  flame  of 
the  sacrifice. 

(June  5.)  Early  this  morning  seven  camels  arrived 
from  Gaza,  and  Mustapha  again  took  his  place  at  the 
head  of  our  caravan ;  but  we  had  to  make  the  condition 
that  our  journey  should  be  direct  to  Jerusalem,  instead 
of  by  Hebron,  as  we  had  previously  intended — the  camel- 
drivers  pretending  that  if  they  went  that  way,  we  would 
be  stopped  by  the  people,  because  coming  from  a  town 
where  the  plague  was  raging.  The  policy  of  Moslems 
is  hard  to  be  understood.  “  The  sun  had  risen  on  the 
earth  ”  ere  we  left  our  sandy  eminence.  Our  morning 
meal  was  a  spare  one,  a  barley-cake  and  a  glass  of  pure 
water.  We  soon  passed  the  foot  of  Samson’s  hill,  and 
then  the  entrance  to  Gaza,  near  the  public  well,  where 
the  women  were  already  assembling  with  veiled  faces  to 
draw  water.  Our  road  lay  between  lofty  hedges  of 
prickly  pear,  enclosing  luxuriant  gardens.  In  these  no 
care  seems  to  be  bestowed  upon  flowers,  but  pome¬ 
granate,  fig,  and  olive-trees  flourished  abundantly.  Oc¬ 
casionally  we  noticed  a  fig-tree  up  which  a  vine  had 
climbed,  so  that  the  combined  shade  “  of  their  vine  and 
fig-tree  ”  f  might  here  be  enjoyed  together.  Several  of 
the  houses  in  the  town  had  tents  erected  on  their  flat 
roofs ;  which  we  supposed  might  be  especially  intended 
at  present  to  avoid  the  infection  of  the  plague.  A  bury- 
ing-ground  a  little  way  from  the  gate  had  lamps  sus¬ 
pended  over  several  of  its  tombs. 

We  then  entered  upon  the  Grove  of  Olives,  which  is 
laid  down  in  maps.  The  public  road  passed  through  it 
for  about  three  miles.  The  trees  appear  to  have  been 
planted  at  regular  distances, — handsome  trees  with 
pleasant  shade,  reminding  the  traveller  of  the  days  of 
Philistia’s  glory.  We  met  many  peasants,  some  riding 
on  asses,  some  on  foot,  carrying  into  town  vegetables 
and  fruits.  Several  women  carried  baskets  of  mulber¬ 
ries  on  their  heads.  The  Bedouins  brought  us  some  Of 
these,  and  we  found  them  much  better  than  those  we 
got  in  Egypt.  On  either  side  of  the  road,  the  ground  is 
covered  with  verdure,  so  that  the  grove  is  not  unlike 
some  nobleman’s  domain.  The  constant  chirping  of  the 
grasshoppers,  though  monotonous,  was  not  unpleasant. 
There  is  something  strongly  indicative  of  health  and 
vigour  in  the  fresh  look  of  a  flourishing  olive-tree,  but 
especially  when  a  grove  of  them  is  seen  together,  and 

*  Exod.  xxix.  22.  Lev.  iii.  9  t  Mic.  iv.  4. 

11* 


106 


JOURNEY  TO  JERUSALEM — BET-HANOON. 


the  sun  shining  on  their  glossy  leaves.  The  trunk  is  of 
a  moderate  height,  and  gnarled  in  a  picturesque  manner ; 
the  foliage  is  of  a  deep  and  peculiar  green,  and  under  a 
passing  breeze,  the  uppermost  leaves  turn  round,  and 
shew  a  fine  silvery  hue.  Hence  the  full  meaning  of  the 
words  of  the  prophet,  “  His  beauty  shall  be  as  the  olive- 
tree.”*  And  again,  “the  Lord  called  thy  name,  A  green 
olive-tree,  fair, "and  of  goodly  fruit.”f  And  the  joyful 
song  of  the  Psalmist,  “  I  am  like  a  green  olive-tree  in 
the  "house  of  God.”  }  It  is  not  merely  the  evergreen 
verdure  of  the  tree  that  is  referred  to,  but  its  health  and 
vigour.  Where  could  we  find  a  better  emblem  of  the 
Church  in  a  flourishing  condition,  than  just  such  a  grove 
of  olives  as  this,  with  the  peaceful  notes  of  the  turtle 
poured  forth  from  the  midst,  and  the  sun’s  living  light 
over  all,  like  the  Sun  of  righteousness  shining  over  his 
peaceful  Church ! 

On  emerging  from  this  pleasant  grove,  the  country 
opens  out  into  a  fine  plain.  In  the  fields  all  the  opera¬ 
tions  of  harvest  seemed  to  be  going  on  at  the  same  time. 
Some  were  cutting  down  the  barley,  for  it  was  the  time 
of  barley-harvest,  with  a  reaping-hook  not  unlike  our 
own,  but  all  of  iron,  and  longer  in  the  handle  and  smaller 
in  the  hook.  Others  were  gathering  what  was  cut  down 
into  sheaves.  Many  were  gleaning;  and  some  were 
employed  in  carrying  home  what  had  been  cut  and  gath¬ 
ered.  We  met  four  camels  heavily  laden  with  ripe 
sheaves,  each  camel  having  bells  of  a  different  note  sus¬ 
pended  from  its  neck,  which  sounded  cheerfully  as  they 
moved  slowly  on.  Perhaps  those  bells  may  be  a  rem¬ 
nant  of  the  “joy  in  harvest,”  §  though  this  is  not  the 
only  time  when  they  are  used.  The  practice  appears  to 
have  been  very  common  in  the  days  of  Zechariah,  for 
he  makes  use  of  the  expression,  “  On  the  bells  of  the 
horses  shall  be,  Holiness  to  the  Lord,”  ||  to  indicate  the 
holiness  that  shall  pervade  the  land,  descending  to  the 
minutest  and  most  ordinary  movements  of  life.  The 
barley  on  the  plain  seemed  good,  but  the  crop  amazingly 
thin,  and  the  rank  weeds  so  abundant,  that  asses  and 
other  cattle  were  feeding  on  the  part  of  the  field  that 
had  been  newly  cut. 

Bet-hanoon,  a  small  village  on  the  right  hand,  is  the 
first  object  of  interest  in  this  plain.  It  is  composed  of 
brown  square  huts  standing  on  a  rising  ground,  and  sur- 

*  Hosea  xiv.  6.  +  Jer.  xi.  16.  t  Ps.  lii.  8. 

Isa.  ix.  3.  U  Zech.  xiv.  20. 


VALLEY  OF  ESHCOL  AND  SORBIC. 


107 


rounded  with  trees.  In  1  Kings  iv.  9,  there  is  mention 
made  of  “  Elon-beth-hanan,”  or  “  the  plain  ofBeth-hanan, 
in  the  tribe  of  Dan,  a  name  which  resembles  this.  A  wady 
runs  past  in  a  northerly  direction,  and  joins  what  we  be 
lieve  might  be  the  brook  Sorek  several  miles  further  on 
This  we  conjectured  to  be  the  channel  of  the  brook  Esh 
col.  Some  have  supposed  that  Sorek  is  the  streaun,  and 
Eshcol  the  tributary,  and  this  agrees  exactly  with  our 
observation,  for  in  all  this  plain  we  crossed  only  one 
channel  of  a  river  that  communicated  with  the  sea.  The 
tributary  stream  answering  to  Eshcol  must  have  been 
Wady  Safia,  which  we  crossed  soon  after.  The  channel 
was  quite  dry,  and  the  road  lay  through  the  middle  of 
it  for  some  part  of  the  way.  Often  the  banks  were  much 
broken  as  by  a  winter  torrent,  and  very  deep.  Ten  or 
twelve  feet  of  beautiful  soil  was  sometimes  laid  bare,  so 
that  we  could  not  help  exclaiming,  How  fertile  this  land 
might  yet  become,  if  there  were  bestowed  on  it  the  in¬ 
dustry  of  man  and  the  blessing  of  God !  About  a  mile 
further  on  we  crossed  by  a  bridge  another  deep  and 
narrow  channel,  called  by  the  Arabs  Wady  Djezed, 
which  runs  to  the  sea,  and  which  we  conjectured  to  be 
the  brook  Sorek.  Although  some  fix  the  position  of 
Eshcol  nearer  Hebron,  yet  there  seems  good  reason  to 
think  that  this  open  vale  through  which  we  passed  is  the 
true  valley  of  Eshcol,  where  the  spies  cut  down  a  cluster 
of  grapes  so  large  that  they  bare  it  between  them  upon  a 
staff.*  It  is  easy  to  imagine  that  this  spacious  valley, 
stretching  nearly  north  and  south  for  many  miles,  and 
bordered  on  either  side  by  gently  sloping  hills,  would 
form  in  other  days  one  splendid  vineyaid,  fertile  in  its 
soil,  and  watered  by  pleasant  brooks.  Where  aie  its 
vines  now!  Vast  fields  of  barley  meet  the  eye  ;  but  we 
saw  not  a  single  vine.  God  seems  to  have  chosen  this 
spot  the  more  strikingly  to  draw  attention  to  the  iultii- 
ment  of  another  of  his  predictions,  “  I  will  destroy  her 
vines  and  her  fig-trees,  whereof  she  hath  said,  These  are 
my  rewards  which  my  lovers  have  given  me. f  I 
will  take  away  my  wine  in  the  season  thereof,  [  We 
afterwards  found  a  few  fig-trees,  but  still  not  a  single 
vine,  in  all  this  valley  that  once  obtained  its.  name  from 
its  ripe  clusters  of  grapes.  This  is  only  one  instance  out 
of  a  thousand  of  the  manner  in  which  God  has  bereaved 
Israel  of  their  plentiful  fruits  in  token  of  his  wrath.  Every 
traveller  can  bear  witness,  that  over  the  whole  land  the 

*  Num.  xiii.  23.  t  Hos.  ii.  12.  t  lb.  verse  9 


108  VALLEY  OP  ESHCOL — DESOLATE  VILLAGES. 


words  of  Joel  are  fulfilled,  “  The  vine  is  dried  up  and  the 
fig-tree  languisheth,  the  pomegranate-tree,  the  palm-tree 
also,  and  the  apple-tree ;  even  all  the  trees  of  the  field 
are  withered.”*  The  fact  of  the  Turks  and  Saracens 
being  by  their  religion  opposed  to  wine,  was  no  doubt 
one  of  the  chief  means  in  the  hands  of  God  to  prevent  the 
cultivation  of  the  vine  in  the  land.  With  what  certainty 
may  we  anticipate  the  reversing  of  the  judgment,  which 
the  same  word  has  promised,  “I  will  give  her  her  vine¬ 
yards  from  thence.”f  “  And  the  mountains  shall  drop 
sweet  wine,  and  all  the  hills  shall  melt.”!  About  noon 
we  encamped  at  the  village  of  Deir-esnait.  Our  guides 
remarked  that  “cZeiV”  means  a  convent,  or  some  such 
building.  We  could,  however,  find  no  trace  of  any  an¬ 
cient  building ;  the  houses  are  all  plastered  with  mud; 
and  the  village  is  surrounded  by  trees.  As  we  approach¬ 
ed,  one  of  the  camel-drivers,  pointing  to  a  cluster  of  six 
large  fig-trees,  cried  out,  “  Tacht  et-teen ,”  “  under  the 
fig-tree  1”  And  soon  we  felt  the  pleasantness  of  this 
shade ;  for  there  is  something  peculiarly  delightful  in  the 
shade  of  the  fig-tree.  It  is  far  superior  to  the  shelter  of 
a  tent,  and  perhaps  even  to  the  shadow  of  a  rock;  since 
not  only  does  the  mass  of  heavy  foliage  completely  ex¬ 
clude  the  rays  of  the  sun,  but  the  traveller  finds  under  it 
a  peculiar  coolness,  arising  from  the  air  gently  creeping 
through  the  branches.  Hence  the  force  of  the  Scripture 
expression,  “  When  thou  wast  under  the  fig-tree  ;”§  and 
the  prophecy,  “  In  that  day  shall  ye  call  every  man  his 
neighbour  under  the  vine  and  under  the  fig-tree.” ||— Re¬ 
stored  and  happy  Israel  shall  invite  one  another  to  sit 
down  beneath  their  embowering  shade  to  recount  the 
glorious  acts  of  the  Lord. 

Reclining  under  these  six  fig-trees  we  enjoyed  a  short 
repose,  the  servants  and  camels  being  all  gathered  round 
us  under  the  same  grateful  shade.  These  immense 
trees  show  plainly  that  the  substantial  fertility  of  the  soil 
is  still  remaining,  but  they  are  almost  the  only  remnants 
of  Eshcol’s  luxuriance.  A  small  village  was  in  sight  to 
the  right,  called  Dimreh,  its  mud-plastered  houses  half- 
concealed.  by  verdant  trees.  None  of  the  villages  we 
had  seen  would  contain  above  fifty  souls,  some  not  so 
many,  and  yet  these  are  spots  where  Judah  and  Israel 
used  to  be  “  many  as  the  sand  which  is  by  the  sea  in  mul- 
titude.”1T  But  now  Isaiah’s  words  are  verified,  “  The 

*  Joel  i.  12.  t  Hos.  ii.  15  t  Amos  ix.  13. 

V  John  i.  48.  ||  Zech.  iii  10.  IT  1  Kings  iv.  20. 


FLOCKS  AT  NOON. 


109 


cities  are  wasted  without  inhabitant,  and  the  houses 
without  man,  and  the  land  is  utterly  desolate  with  deso¬ 
lation  (margin),  and  the  Lord  has  removed  men  far  away, 
and  there  is  a  great  forsaking  in  the  midst  of  the  land.”  * 
And  the  fulfilment  is  all  the  more  striking,  when  the  trav¬ 
eller  remembers  that  in  these  ruined  cities  and  villages 
not  one  of  even  the  few  inhabitants  is  a  Jew. 

While  the  servants  were  preparing  our  simple  meal, 
each  of  us  took  a  solitary  ramble,  in  order  to  see  more 
of  the  features  of  the  land.  From  the  top  of  one  of  the 
neighbouring  eminences,  we  stretched  the  eye  to  the 
north-west,  to  discover  Ashkelon’s  uninhabited  ruins ; 
but  in  vain — the  sea  was  distinctly  visible,  but  the  low 
range  of  sand-hills  which  line  the  coast  intercepted  our 
view  of  the  shore.  Looking  to  the  east,  flocks  and 
herds  were  seen  spreading  through  the  undulating  val¬ 
leys.  In  one  place  we  saw  many  of  them  gathered  to¬ 
gether  under  a  shady  tree,  waiting  till  the  excessive  heat 
of  noon  should  be  abated.  At  other  times,  the  shepherds 
gather  the  flocks  beside  a  well,  as  we  afterwards  saw  at 
Lebonah,  where  many  hundreds  were  lying  down 
around  the  well’s  mouth.  We  remembered  the  words 
of  the  Song,  “  Tell  me,  O  thou  whom  my  soul  loveth, 
where  thou  feedest,  where  thou  makest  thy  flock  to  rest 
at  noon.”f  The  sight  of  these  flocks  reclining  beneath 
the  shady  trees  suggested  the  true  meaning  of  another 
passage,  “  I  will  raise  up  for  them  a  plant  of  renown.”\ 
This  plant  is  some  noble  shady  tree  where  the  flock  may 
find  rest  and  shelter— a  wide-spreading  covert,  renowned 
for  its  coolness,  under  whose  protecting  branches  they 
shall  feed,  and  be  “  no  more  consumed  with  hunger.” 
The  great  Redeemer  is  thus  represented  as  giving  to 
his  own  flock  first  shelter  from  burning  wrath,  and  then 
peace  to  feed  in  plenty  when  they  are  delivered.  When 
shall  Israel  come  to  this  Plant  of  renown  1 

After  gathering  some  of  the  wild  flowers  and  seeds  of 
shrubs,  as  memorials  of  the  hills  of  Philistia — among 
others,  seeds  of  the  Poterium  spinosum, — we  returned  to 
the  encampment  through  fields  where  some  were  cutting 
down  the  barley,  and  others  gleaning  behind  them,  like 
Ruth  in  the  fields  of  Boaz,  not  far  off ;  while  the  feet  of 
oxen  were  treading  out  what  had  been  cut.  In  the  vil- 


*  Isa.  vi.  11,  12.  t  Song  i.  7. 

t  Ezek.  xxxiv.  29.  See  the  whole  context,  where  Israel  is  compared 
to  a  flock  of  sheep. 


110 


BEDOUIN  MODE  OF  SALUTATION. 


lage  “  the  sound  of  the  millstone”  met  our  ears,  proceed¬ 
ing  from  several  of  the  huts.  It  is  a  clear  ringing  sound, 
conveying  an  idea  of  peace  and  cheerfulness,  and  is  more 
than  once  spoken  of  in  Scripture*  In  the  court-yard  of 
one  house,  the  grinders  accompanied  their  occupation 
with  a  song.f  Before  leaving  the  poor  villagers,  we 
partook  of  the  first  fruits  of  the  land  in  the  shape  of  fine 
ripe  apricots,  and  drank  a  little  of  their  “  Hemat  ,”  or 
“  Leban-hemat ,”  a  kind  of  sour  milk,  which  is  very  cool¬ 
ing  and  pleasant  when  well  prepared.  It  was  this 
which  Jael  gave  to  Sisera,| — “  She  brought  forth  butter 
in  a  lordly  dish the  word  in  the  original  being  the  same 
as  that  now  applied  by  the  Arabs  to  this  simple  bever¬ 
age.  It  is  made  by  putting  milk  into  an  earthen  jar,  and 
letting  it  stand  for  a  day.  The  taste  is  not  unlike  that 
of  butter-milk,  cool  and  most  refreshing  to  a  weary  man 
oppressed  with  heat.  The  Arabs  say  “  it  makes  a  sick 
man  well.” 

Leaving  this  pleasant  spot  about  half-past  four,  we 
proceeded  northward  through  the  plain,  crossing  the 
dry  channel  of  a  former  brook  named  Wady-el- Abd. 
There  were  many  fields  of  tobacco,  barley,  and  dhura, 
and  clusters  of  silvery  olives,  to  relieve  the  eye.  The 
dhura  is  a  species  of  millet  or  Indian  corn  ;  it  grows  very 
rank  and  strong,  bears  a  heavy  crop,  and  is  often 
roasted  and  eaten  unground.  One  stalk  sometimes  fur¬ 
nishes  a  meal  to  a  native.  Perhaps  this  may  have  been 
“the  parched  corn”  which  Boaz  gave  to  Ruth,§  and 
David  carried  to  his  brethren. ||  An  incidental  occur¬ 
rence  here  showed  us  the  meaning  of  Elisha’s  command 
to  his  servant  Gehazi,  to  salute  no  man  by  the  way.  IF  A 
Bedouin  acquaintance  of  one  of  our  camel-drivers,  meet¬ 
ing  him  on  the  road,  the  two  friends  occupied  no  small 
time  in  salutation.  They  kissed  each  other  five  times  on 
the  cheek,  holding  the  hand  at  the  same  time ;  then  asked 
three  or  four  questions  at  each  other,  and  not  till  this 
was  done,  did  they  resume  their  journey.  If  Gehazi,  a 
man  so  well  known,  had  done  this  to  every  one  he  met, 
he  would  not  have  reached  Carmel  before  his  master. 

In  less  than  an  hour  we  came  to  Bet-Car,  a  small  place, 
composed  of  one  square  of  houses  for  villagers  and  their 


*  .Ter.  xxv.  10.  Rev.  xviii.  22. 

t  I  erhaps  this  may  be  alluded  to  in  Eccles.  xii.  4, 
grinding  is  low.” 

I  Judg.  v  25.  nNDn  See  also  Job  xxix.  6. 

II  1  Sam.  xvii.  17.  if  2  Kings  iv.  29. 


“  The  sound  of  the 

§  Ruth  ii.  14. 
Also  Luke  x.  4. 


DOULIS — DRAWING  WATER. 


11 


flocks,  a  white  tower,  and  Sheikh’s  tomb,  surrounded 
with  some  fine  trees  and  hedges  of  prickly  pear.  A  little 
after,  a  village  called  Barbara  appeared  at  some  distance 
on  our  left,  and  then  nearer  us,  beside  the  dry  channel 
of  Wady-um-Gersh,  another  village  called  Dia,  with  a 
large  tamarisk-tree.  It  has  about  twenty  families,  and 
large  flocks  and  herds  were  gathering  round. 

From  this  point  to  the  ruins  of  Ashkelon,  there  was 
only  a  single  hour’s  journey.  We  would  have  rejoiced 
to  have  seen  with  our  own  eyes  the  fulfilment  of  the  pro¬ 
phecy,  “  Ashkelon  shall  not  be  inhabited  *  and  also  the 
place  where  the  remnant  of  Judah  is  yet  to  “lie  down  in 
the  evening f  but  the  day  was  too  far  gone  to  admit 
of  our  visiting  it.  The  hill  country  of  Judah  came  in 
sight  this  evening.  The  view  was  distant,  but  very 
pleasing,  over  the  vast  plain  covered  with  barley.  On 
the  right  appeared  a  village,  Bet-ima,  or  “  house  of  eggs;” 
and  in  half  an  hour  after,  having  crossed  the  dry  bed  of 
Wady  Rousad,  we  came  to  Doulis,  a  considerable  vil¬ 
lage,  placed  upon  a  rock,  and  overlooking  the  open  vale 
through  which  we  had  travelled.  It  stands  on  the  left 
of  the  road,  and  is  four  hours  distant  from  our  last  sta¬ 
tion.  Here  we  encamped  for  the  night.  While  the  serv¬ 
ants  were  pitching  the  tents, 
we  wandered  through  the 
place,  and  sitting  down  by  the 
well,  observed  the  women 
come  to  draw  water.  The 
well  is  very  deep,  and  the 
mode  of  drawing  up  the  water 
curious.  A  rope  is  attached 
by  one  end  to  a  large  bucket, 
made  of  skin,  and  let  down 
over  a  pulley ;  while  the  other 
end  is  attached  to  a  bullock, 
which  is  driven  down  the 
slope  of  the  hill;  the  skin  of 
water  is  thus  hauled  up  to  the 
top,  where  a  man  stands  ready 
to  empty  it  into  the  trough, 
from  which  women  receive 
the  water  in  earthen  -  ware 
jugs.  To  us  this  was  a  novel 
•  and  amusing  sight. 


*  Zech.  ix.  5. 


t  Zeph.  ii.  7. 


112 


DOULIS — FOLDS  FOR  FLOCKS. 


In  some  parts  of  the  village  fragments  of  marble  pillars 
were  lying  on  the  ground ;  and  on  the  side  of  the  hill 
there  are  many  deep  pits,  which  may  have  been  used  in 
other  days  as  places  of  concealment  for  “  hid  treasures 
of  wheat  and  of  barley.”*  Many  large  flocks  of  sheep 
and  goats  were  coming  into  the  village,  and  we  followed 
“  the  footsteps  of  the  flocks,”  in  order  to  see  where  they 
were  lodged  all  night.  We  found  the  dwellings  to  be 
merely  cottages  of  mud,  with  a  door,  and  sometimes  also 
a  window,  into  a  court-yard.  In  this  yard  the  flocks 
were  lying  down,  while  the  villagers  were  spreading 
their  mats  to  rest  within.  Small  mud-walls  formed  frail 
partitions,  to  keep  separate  the  larger  and  smaller  cattle ; 
for  oxen,  horses,  and  camels,  were  in  some  of  these  en¬ 
closures.  We  could  not  look  upon  these  “folds  for 
flocks,”  so  closely  adjoining  the  “  dwellings  and  cottages 
for  shepherds,”  and  this  in  the  very  region  anciently 
called  “the  sea-coast,”  without  expressing  to  one  an¬ 
other  our  admiration  at  the  manner  in  which  God  had 
brought  about  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  already 
more  than  once  alluded  to,  “The  sea-coast  shall  be 
dwellings  and  cottages  for  shepherds,  and  folds  for 
flocks.”  f 

One  man  kindly  invited  us  to  enter  his  cottage,  and 
sit  down  on  his  carpet.  He  showed  us  the  key  com¬ 
monly  used  for  the  door,  which  is  nothing  more  than  a 
piece  of  wood  with  pegs  fastened  in  it,  corresponding  to 
small  holes  in  a  wooden  bolt  within.  It  is  put  through  a 
hole  in  the  door,  and  draws  the  bolt  in  a  very  simple 
manner.  It  is  generally  carried  in  the  girdle;  though 
sometimes  we  were  told  it  is  tied  to  something  else,  and 
worn  over  the  shoulder  in  the  way  spoken  of  by  the 
prophet,  “  The  key  of  the  house  of  David  will  I  lay  upon 
his  shoulder.”  J  The  large  opening  through  which  the 
key  is  introduced,  illustrates  these  words  in  the  Song, 
“  My  beloved  put  in  his  hand  by  the  hole  of  the  door.”  § 
It  is  possible  that  Doulis  may  be  the  remains  of  Eshtaol , 
one  of  the  cities  of  Dan,  mentioned  in  the  life  of  Samson.|| 
Its  situation  upon  a  rock,  the  deep  well,  and  the  pits,  all 
show  that  it  is  an  ancient  place ;  and  the  ancient  name 
may  be  concealed  under  the  modern  form. 

On  the  way  to  our  encampment,  we  passed  some  of  the 
tents  of  Kedar  pitched  under  a  tree  outside  the  village,  ex¬ 
actly  like  those  mentioned  before — low  dark-brown  cov- 

*  Jer.  xli.  8  t  Zeph.  ii.  6.  t  Isa.  xxii.  22 

$  Song  v.  4.  ||  Josh.  xix.  41.  Judg.  xiii.  25. 


BEDOUIN  TENTS — DEPARTURE  FROM  DOULIS. 


113 


erings.  The  wanderers  were  crouching  beneath,  and  not 
far  off  a  fire  of  wood  was  sending  up  its  curling  smoke. 


The  women  in  all  this  region  wear  long  veils,  which 
in  part  cover  the  lower  part  of  the  face,  but  are  not  drawn 
close  over  it  as  in  Egypt.  Long  veils  seem  to  have  been 
common,  and  were  used  for  various  purposes,  often  like 
aprons.* 

The  incessant  sound  of  the  grasshopper  both  day  and 
night,  made  us  observe  how  natural  was  the  image  used 
by  the  spies,  “  we  were  in  our  own  sight  as  grasshop¬ 
pers, ”f  for,  like  us,  they  must  have  listened  to  their  per¬ 
petual  chirping  in  this  very  region.  Before  falling  asleep 
we  heard  the  wild  howling  of  the  jackal  and  the  wolf, 
as  if  hungry  for  a  prey. 

(June  6!)  We  were  awakened  before  break  of  day  by 
the  voice  of  Mustapha  crying  to  Ibraim  and  Ahmet, 
“  Room ,  Room ,”  “  Rise,  rise.”  The  sleepers  answered 
now  and  then  by  a  groan,  till,  wearied  out  by  their  re¬ 
fusal,  Mustapha  resolved  on  forsaking  us,  and  actually 
gave  orders  to  his  Bedouins  to  depart.  We  all  started 
up,  and  our  tents  were  down  in  a  few  minutes.  Musta- 
pha’s  great  anxiety  was  to  get  past  a  certain  part  of  the 
road,  which  is  infested  with  flies,  before  the  sun  was  hot. 
We  were  on  our  camels  before  five,  and  the  moon  was 
shining  sweetly  on  Doulis  as  we  departed.  Instead  of 
going  northward,  our  route  now  lay  directly  eastward. 
We  ascended  a  hilly  pass,  adorned  with  wild  flowers  and 
perfumed  with  fragrant  thyme.  The  birds,  too,  were 
filling  the  morning  air  with  their  sweet  voices.  Looking 
behind  us,  we  could  see,  under  the  rising  sun,  the  plea¬ 
sant  village  we  had  left,  till  we  arrived  at  the  top  of  the 
rocky  eminence.  The  slopes  on  each  side  were  bare 
and  stony,  but  evidently  well  fitted  for  training  the  vine 
in  the  days  of  Eshtaol’s  glory.  We  supposed  that,  in 

*  Ruth  iii.  15.  12  +  Num.  xiii.  33.  ' 


114 


PLAIN  OF  SEPHELA — VILLAGES. 


the  region  northward  to  us,  lay  Zorah,  where  Samson 
was  born ;  and  still  nearer  us  the  “  Camp  of  Dan,”  where 
“  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  began  to  move  him and  not 
far  off,  the  vineyards  of  Timnath,  where  he  slew  the 
lion.*  Looking  nearly  due  north,  we  saw  a  town  upon 
a  conical  rising  ground,  surrounded  with  trees.  This 
the  Arabs  called  Shdood,  the  remains  of  Ashdod,  where 
Dagon  fell  before  the  Ark  of  God.f  It  is  about  two  hours 
and  a  half  distant.  When  we  were  comparing  this  fra¬ 
grant  pass  of  Dan  with  some  of  the  mountain  scenery 
in  our  own  Scotland,  suddenly  we  reached  the  summit, 
and  a  splendid  prospect  broke  upon  us.  An  immense 
undulating  plain  was  stretched  before,  lying  north  and 
south,  and  of  vast  breadth  east  and  west.  There  were 
few  trees,  but  the  plain  was  covered  with  fields  of  yellow 
grain,  and  studded  with  a  goodly  number  of  little  towns, 
the  remains  of  other  days.  Vast  tracts  appeared  to  lie 
uncultivated,  and  some  parts  were  covered  with  sesa- 
mine,  whose  white  flowers  formed  an  agreeable  variety. 
There  were  no  traces  of  that  arid  sandy  aspect  so  cha¬ 
racteristic  of  the  country  from  which  we  had  just  emerg¬ 
ed.  In  the  background,  the  beautiful  hill  country  of 
Judah  rose  tier  above  tier,  and  the  sun,  which  was  just 
rising  over  them,  poured  a  flood  of  golden  rays  into  the 
plain.  This  is  the  great  plain  of  Sephela,  called  “  The 
Plain”! 

As  we  descended  into  the  vale,  we  inquired  of  the 
Arabs  the  names  of  the  different  villages  in  sight,  mak¬ 
ing  them  repeat  the  name  carefully  and  frequently,  that 
we  might  not  be  mistaken.  Three  villages  immediately 
before  us,  and  not  far  off,  they  called  Erd  Safeen.  On 
the  extreme  right,  under  the  hill,  we  were  pointed  to 
Aragesh  Sueidan,  then  more  to  the  east  to  Bet-affa,  and 
farther  still,  to  Karatieh,  with  a  tower,  perhaps  the  an¬ 
cient  Bethcar ;  §  the  next  we  were  shown  was  Hatta, 
the  next  Oudsir,  and  still  farther  across  the  plain  Thit- 
crin.  They  pointed  also  to  the  situation  of  Bet  Jibrin, 
believed  to  be  the  ancient  Eleutheropolis.  Ibraim,  our 
guide,  had  visited  it  with  Professor  Robinson,  and  de¬ 
scribed  to  us  the  curious  remains  of  buildings  which 
they  found  there.  On  the  extreme  left,  and  nearly  north 
from  us,  was  a  considerable  village,  Bet-daras.  A  dis¬ 
tant  hill  of  a  conical  form  to  the  north-east,  they  called 
El-betune.  We  now  came  down  upon  the  three  villages 
of  Safeen,  situated  as  it  were  at  the  points  of  a  triangle, 

*  Judges  xiii.  2,  25 ;  xiv.  5.  t  1  Sam.  v.  3. 

t  Obad.  19.  $  1  Sam.  vii.  11. 


PLAIN  OF  ZEPHATHAH — KASTEEN. 


115 


and  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  distant  from  each  other 
We  halted  for  a  few  minutes  to  break  our  fast  with  a 
little  barley-bread  and  fine  warm  milk.  But  now  we 
began  to  experience  the  annoyance  of  which  we  had 
been  forewarned  by  Mustapha.  The  air  was  filled  with 
swarms  of  small  flies,  whose  bite  was  very  troublesome, 
so  that  we  were  glad  to  use  every  means  to  cover  our 
faces.  The  camels  also,  stung  by  these  insects,  became 
very  restive,  and  for  the  first  time  almost  ungovernable. 
A  wolf  here  started  across  our  path,  and  fled  before  us. 

The  last  of  the  three  villages  has  marks  of  antiquity. 
There  is  a  large  well  a  little  out  of  the  town,  from  which 
the  water  is  drawn  up  in  the  same 'way  as  at  Doulis. 
The  women  were  all  busy  drawing  the  morning  supply  ; 
some  were  washing  their  hands  and  faces,  and  their  feet, 
by  rubbing  one  foot  upon  another.  There  are  also 
many  pits  for  grain  here,  large  stones  and  mounds  of 
earth,  and  a  pool  of  water.  A  wady  winds  past,  called 
Wady  Safeen,  at  present  dry,  but  it  may  have  been  a 
considerable  stream  in  winter.  The  situation  and  the 
name  of  these  villages  at  once  suggested  to  us  that  this 
is  the  valley  of  Zephathah ,  where  Asa  defeated  Zerah, 
the  Ethiopian,  with  his  host  of  “  a  thousand  thousand.”  * 
In  this  vast  plain  there  would  be  room  enough  for  all 
that  multitude,  and  ample  scope  in  these  level  fields  for 
the  three  hundred  chariots.  We  remembered  with  fresh 
interest  also,  how  the  ark  of  God  was  carried  by  the  two 
milch  kine  from  the  land  of  the  Philistines  to  Beth-she- 
mesh,  across  this  very  plain,  probably  a  little  to  the 
north  of  us.f  Nor  could  we  lift  our  eyes  to  the  hill 
country  of  Judah  without  remembering  the  visit  of  the 
mother  of  our  Lord  to  her  cousin  Elizabeth.  J  Once 
also  Mareshah,  Lachish,  and  Libnah  stood  in  this  vast 
plain. 

At  nine  o’clock  we  arrived  at  Kasteen,  where  was  a 
well  and  plenty  of  water,  pits  for  grain,  and  mounds  of 
earth.  Upon  the  roof  of  the  houses  the  inhabitants 
were  spreading  out  sheaves  of  corn  to  dry.  We  imme¬ 
diately  thought  of  Rahab  hiding  the  spies  at  Jericho.  § 
A  solitary  palm  rises  in  the  midst  of  the  village.  On  the 
left  side  of  the  road  is  Hasur,  a  small  village  with  many 
trees,  perhaps  one  of  the  “ Razors  ”  of  Judah.  || 

Half  an  hour  after  we  rested  at  Mesmieh,  a  village 

*  2  Chron.  xiv.  9  t  1  Sam.  vi.  12.  t  Luke  i.  39. 

$  Josh.  ii.  6  I!  Josh.  xv.  25. 


1 16  VILLAGE  OF  MESMIEH — THRASHING-FLOOR. 

surrounded  by  prickly  pear,  and  interspersed  with  olive- 
trees.  The  houses  were  of  a  wretched  description ;  but 
there  were  deep  pits  for  grain— a  large  well  also  at  the 
farther  side  of  the  village,  and  a  pool  near  it,  where  the 
oxen  were  bathing  themselves  up  to  the  neck  to  get  rid 
of  the  flies.  We  found  a  scanty  shelter  under  an  old 
decaying  olive-tree. 

At  one  o’clock  we  mounted  again, — the  great 
heat,  the  flies,  and  the  bad  water,  making  us 
very  willing  to  depart.  An  interesting  and 
lively  scene  of  rural  life  here  presented  itself 
Close  to  the  village  lay  a  thrashing  floor,  where 
twenty  or  thirty  pair  of  oxen  were  employed 
in  treading  out  corn.  One  peasant  attended 
to  each  pair,  and  another  tossed  up  the  straw 
with  a  wooden  fork,  and  spread  it  out  again  for 
them  to  tread.  Few  of  the  oxen  were  muz¬ 
zled.  We  remembered  the  commandment, 

“  Thou  shalt  not  muzzle  the  ox  that  treadeth 
out  the  corn;”*  and  how  Paul  says  to  minis¬ 
ters,  “For  our  sakes  no  doubt  this  is  written, 
that  he  that  plougheth  should  plough  in  hope, 
and  that  he  that  thrasheth  in  hope,  should  be 
partaker  of  his  hope.”  f  The  camels,  too,  were 
carrying  home  loads  of  ripe  sheaves,  to  the 
sound  of  the  tinkling  bell  round  their  neck. 

On  a  rising  ground  far  to  the  south,  stands  a  village 
with  a  kind  of  fort,  which  our  guide  called  Assenibba.J 
Our  route  now  lay  by  a  ruined  arch,  El-mohrazin.  A 
village  stood  here  a  few  years  ago,  but  a  virulent  epi¬ 
demic  cut  off  all  the  inhabitants.  Under  another  arch¬ 
way  not  far  off,  the  people  were  winnowing  barley,  cast¬ 
ing  it  up  to  the  wind  with  a  wooden  fan.  A  woman 
passed  carrying  her  child  on  her  shoulder  in  a  cradle. 

Here  we  came  upon  a  narrow  stream  of  water  called 
by  our  guide  Wady  Maruba,  an  hour  and  a  half  from 
Mesmieh.  The  water  was  very  muddy,  yet  the  Arabs 
drank  and  bathed  in  it  with  the  greatest  satisfaction. 
This  was  the  first  sight  we  obtained  of  running  water 
since  entering  this  land,  which  was  once  called  “  a  land 
of  brooks  of  water.”$  ■  We  again  remembered  the  prayer 
of  Israel,  so  applicable  at  this  moment,  “  Turn  again  our 

*  Deut.  xxv.  4.  f  1  Cor.  ix.  10. 

+  Probably  Neit  Nuzib  described  by  Professor  Robinson,  having  a 
’Tied  tower;  vol.  iii.  p.  12.  The  Nezib  of  Josh.  xv.  43. 

$  Deut.  viii.  7. 


FIELDS  OF  THISTLES. 


117 


captivity,  O  Lord,  as  the  streams  in  the  south.”  *  <  And 
we  recalled  with  a  thrill  of  interest  the  clear  promise  by 
the  mouth  of  the  prophet  Joel,  “All  the  rivers  of  Judah 
shall  flow  with  waters.”f 

Four  hours  together  this  day  we  travelled  through 
fields  of  weeds,  briers,  and  thorns,  such  as  we  never 
saw  any  where  else.  Sometimes  the  weeds  were  as 
plentiful  and  stronger  than  the  barley  amongst  which 
they  grew.  Often"  there  was  nothing  but  weeds.  In 
ploughing,  they  plough  round  about  them,  and  in  reap¬ 
ing  they  take  care  not  to  cut  down  the  giant  thistles. 
The  variety  of  thistles  was  very  great.  We  counted  ten 
or  eleven  different  species  in  the  course  of  the  afternoon. 
There  were  also  large  fields  covered  with  the  “  hellah” 
or  sesamine,  like  “  hemlock  in  the  furrows  of  the  field. 
Through  the  whole  of  the  plain  the  ground  is  chapped 
and  cracked  as  if  by  an  earthquake,  and  to  the  foot  feels 
hard  as  iron.  All  these  things  appear  without  contra¬ 
diction  to  be  a  literal  fulfilment  of  the  word  of  God. 
“  Upon  the  land  of  my  people  shall  come  up  thorns  and 
briers,”  “  until  the  Spirit  be  poured  upon  us  from  on 
high. “  The  rivers  of  waters  are  dried  up,  and  the  fire 
hath  devoured  the  pastures  of  the  wiklerness.”||  “  Thy 
heaven  that  is  over  thy  head  shall  be  brass,  and  the  earth 
that  is  under  thee  shall  be  iron.”  IT 

We  passed  along  the  banks  of  a  brook  for  a  little  way, 
fenced  by  tall  reeds,  among  which  the  cattle  were  enjoy¬ 
ing  the  cooling  shade  and  drinking  the  waters.  A  flock 
of" large  birds  having  red  bills  and  legs,  white  bodies  and 
black  tails,  in  form  like  our  heron,  were  stalking  along 
the  marshy  places.  The  natives  called  them  the  Abusat. 
Straight  before  us,  though  not  on  our  road, upon  a  point 
of  the  hills,  stood  Jimso,**  a  village  that  seemed  to  have 
some  buildings  of  limestone  from  its  peculiarly  white 
appearance. 

Towards  evening  we  entered  among  the  lower  tract, 
of  hills,  behind  which  rose  the  mountains  of  Judah,  which 
appeared  very  beautiful  in  the  evening  sun,  the  limestone 
of  which  they  are  composed  giving  a  white  appearance 
to  all  the  mountain  tracts.  Here  we  began  to  notice  the 
remains  of  terraces.  At  five  o’clock,  we  passed  on  our 
left  hand  Hulda,  a  ruined  village  on  the  top  of  a  height, 

*  Ps.  cxxvi.  4.  1*  Joel  iii.  18.  t  Hos.  x.  4. 

§  Isa.  xxxii.  13, 15.  II  Joel  i.  20.  IF  Deut.  xxviii.  23. 

**  The  same  as  Gimzo,  2  Chron.  xxviii.  18. 

12* 


118 


HILLS  OP  JUDAH — VILLAGE  OF  LATROON. 


evidently  a  place  of  strength  and  antiquity.  An  old 
bridge  spans  the  stream  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  and  the 
remains  of  a  massive  causeway  lead  up  to  the  town. 

We  turned  northward,  getting  deeper  into  the  hills  of 
Judah.  Hitherto  appearances  had  indicated  fertility  in 
the  soil,  but  now  the  hills  became  bare  and  rocky  on 
each  side  for  about  an  hour’s  ride,  though  even  these 
showed  many  marks  of  former  cultivation."  We  passed 
on  our  left  a  small  village,  Deir-maheysen,  where  many 
of  the  villagers  were  assembled  under  the  shade  of  a 
large  nabbok-tree,  the  only  tree  of  considerable  size 
within  view.  We  were  at  some  distance,  and  did  not 
see  distinctly  how  they  were  employed,  but  they  seemed 
to  be  enjoying  an  evening’s  relaxation  in  the  cool  of  the 
day. 

Wearied  with  the  constant  motion  of  the  camel,  we 
sometimes  dismounted  and  beguiled  the  way  by  culling 
a  few  of  the  choice  pinks  and  wild  mountain  flowers  tha"t 
grew  among  the  rocks.  Here  we  overtook  an  Arabian 
playing  with  all  his  might  upon  a  shepherd’s  pipe  made 
of  two  reeds.  This  was  the  first  time  we  had  seen  any 
marks  of  joy  in  the  land,  for  certainly  “  All  joy  is  darken¬ 
ed,  the  mirth  of  the  land  is  gone.”*  We  afterwards  found 
that  the  Jews  have  no  harp,  nor  tabret,  nor  instrument  of 
music  in  the  Holy  Land.  In  all  parts  of  it,  they  have  an 
aspect  of  timidity  and  rooted  sorrow.  So  fully  are  the 
words  fulfilled,  “  All  the  merry-hearted  do  sigh,  the  mirth 
of  tabrets  ceaseth,  the  noise  of  them  that  rejoice  endeth, 
the  joy  of  the  harp  ceaseth.”  f  All  the  men  we  met  with 
were  strangers;  ancient  Israel  are  left  “  few  in  number, 
whereas  they  were  as  the  stars  of  heaven  for  multitude.”! 
We  have  not  as  yet  met  a  single  child  of  Abraham  in 
their  own  land.  The  threatening  of  Isaiah  has  come  to 
pass,  “  Your  land,  strangers  devour  it  in  your  presence, 
and  it  is  desolate,  as  overthrown  by  strangers.”^ 

The  hills  now  opened  wider,  and  our  path  turned  north¬ 
east  to  the  village  of  Latroon,  strongly  situated  on  a 
rocky  eminence.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  this  must 
have  been  the  site  of  some  of  the  ancient  fortresses  of 
J udah.  A  winding  path  leads  to  it  from  the  valley  below ; 
and  here  the  traveller  may  stand  and  catch  a  wide  view 
of  the  surrounding  hills,  all  bearing  the  remains  of  an¬ 
cient  terraces,  though  not  a  vine  is  trained  upon  them. 

*  Isa.  xxiv.  11. 

t  Deut.  xxviii.  62. 


t  Isa.  xxiv.  7,  8. 
$  Isa.  i.  7. 


HILLS  OF  JUDAH. 


119 


There  are  patches  of  cultivation  round  the  village,  but 
only  to  the  extent  necessary  to  supply  the  wants  of  the 
villagers  and  their  cattle.  The  whole  scene  reminded  us 
of  one  of  the  glens  in  our  own  highlands.  We  kept  as¬ 
cending  higher  and  higher  by  a  mountain  path  till  a  little 
after  sunset,  when  we  prevailed  on  our  guides  to  encamp 
in  a  stubble  field  near  Deir-Eyub,  a  small  hamlet  of  two 
or  three  houses.  The  hills  around  seemed  to  form  a 
verdant  amphitheatre,  the  terraces  of  the  ancient  vine¬ 
yards  having  the  appearance  of  seats.  There  were  many 
patches  of  cultivation,  and  a  good  deal  of  brushwood. 
There  were  also  two  fine  wells  of  water.  We  were  now 
many  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  plain,  so  that 
the  air  was  delightfully  cool  and  soft.  Dr.  Keith,  observ¬ 
ing  one  of  the  adjoining  hills  to  be  very  verdant,  and  not 
very  steep,  set  out  with  the  purpose  of  climbing  it.  After 
a  short  absence,  however,  he  returned  to  tell  us  that  he 
had  failed  in  his  attempt.  He  found  the  surface  over¬ 
grown  with  strong  briers  and  thorns,  through  which  he 
tried  to  make  his  way,  but  without  success :  “  Every 
place  where  there  was  a  thousand  vines  at  a  thousand 
silverings,  it  shall  even  be  for  briers  and  thorns.  With 
arrows  and  bows  shall  men  come  thither,  because  all  the 
land  shall  become  briers  and  thorns.”  *  Many  times  this 
day  did  the  words  of  Isaiah  come  into  our  mind :  “  They 
shall  lament  for  the  teats  (i.  e.  a  soil  rich  as  breasts  full 
of  milk,  the  uber  agri),  for  the  pleasant  fields,  for  the 
fruitful  vine.  Upon  the  land  of  my  people  shall  come  up 
thorns  and  briers  ;”f  “  until  the  Spirit  be  poured  upon 
us  from  on  high.”|  We  felt  a  secret  joy  in  beholding  the 
deserted  terraces  and  fields  overrun  with  thorns ;  for 
when  we  saw  the  word  of  threatening  so  clearly  and 
literally  fulfilled,  our  unbelief  was  reproved,  and  we  were 
taught  to  expect  without  a  shadow  of  doubt,  that  the 

*  Isa.  vii.  23,  24. 

+  We  felt  the  same  in  traversing  the  vast  plain  of  Esdraelon,  the 
greater  part  of  which  is  covered  over  with  almost  impenetrable  thickets 
of  weeds,  thorns,  briers,  and  thistles.  Some  time  after  when  sailing  up 
the  Bosphorus,  conversing  with  a  gentleman  whom  we  had  met  in 
Palestine,  who  appeared  to  be  a  man  of  the  world,  we  asked  him  if  he 
had  climbed  Mount  Tabor,  to  obtain  the  delightful  view  from  its  sum¬ 
mit.  His  answer  was,— “  No.  Why  should  I  climb  Mount  Tabor,  to 
see  a  country  of  thorns?”  He  was  thus  an  unintentional  witness  to 
the  truth  of  God’s  word.  “  Briers  and  thorns”  include  all  kinds  of 
thorny  growth,  whether  the  common  brier,  or  the  thorn,  or  the  thistle, 
perhaps  it  might  take  in  even  the  prickly  pear,  now  so  common  as  a 
hedge  throughout  the  country.  “  Thorns  and  thistles ”  are  specially 
appropriate  in  a  land  under  the  curse.  See  Gen.  iii.  18. 

t  Isa.  xxxii.  12 — 15. 


120  HILLS  OF  JUDAH— PASS  OF  LATROON. 

promised  blessing  would  be  as  full  and  sure.  We  felt 
too  that  it  was  pleasant  to  anticipate  the  time  when,  as 
certainly  as  these  thorns  and  thistles  overspread  Judea, 
the  Holy  Spirit  shall  be  poured  out  as  a  flood  upon  Israel, 
and  both  the  people  and  the  land  shall  become  a  garden 
of  the  Lord.  As  darkness  came  on,  the  fire-fly  was  to  be 
seen  moving  through  the  air  in  all  directions.  Weary 
and  yet  thankful,  we  committed  ourselves  to  the  care  of 
the  Shepherd  of  Israel,  and  lay  down  in  our  tents  to  enjoy 
a  short  night’s  repose. 

(June  7.)  This  day  was  to  be  among  the  most  event¬ 
ful  of  our  lives,  as  on  it  we  hoped  to  reach  Jerusalem. 
We  therefore  rose  very  early,  and  were  mounted  by  four 
o’clock.  The  morning  had  not  yet  dawned,  but  the  moon 
poured  its  silvery  light  up  the  valley,  and  enabled  our 
guides  to  find  the  track.  Even  at  this  early  hour,  the 
birds  had  begun  their  song  from  the  brushwood  on  the 
hill-side,  and  increased  in  number  and  in  fulness  of  song 
as  the  sun  arose.  Perhaps  the  Psalmist  had  reference  to 
such  a  scene  when  he  sang,  “  He  sendeth  the  springs  into 
the  valleys  which  run  among  the  hills.”  “  By  them  shall 
the  fowls  of  the  heaven  have  their  habitation,  which  sing 
among  the  branches.”  *  At  least  it  was  peculiarly  plea¬ 
sant  to  remember  these  words  in  such  a  spot,  so  near 
the  place  where  David  learned  to  sing.  We  came  upon 
many  small  mountain  streams,  on  the  banks  of  which 
grew  luxuriant  bushes,  and  from  the  branches  of  which 
the  blackbird,  lark,  and  others  were  pouring  forth  their 
lays.  About  five  o’clock  we  reached  the  head  of  the 
valley  in  which  Latroon  is  situated,  and  began  to  enter 
a  singular  mountain  defile,  called  the  Pass  of  Latroon. 
It  is  supposed  that  the  “  Descent  of  Beth-horon ”  and  the 
“  Ascent”  is  this  defile.  Other  travellers  have  found  the 
name  Betur  in  a  village  not  far  off,  and  the  entrance  is 
called  Bab-el-Wady,  or  “Gate  of  the  Valley.”  The  sun 
rose  upon  the  tops  of  the  mountains  soon  after  we  enter¬ 
ed  this  defile,  revealing  a  scene  truly  wild  and  romantic. 
The  path  is  steep  and  rocky,  and  especially  difficult  for 
camels,  whose  feet  are  better  fitted  for  the  soft  sands  of 
the  desert,  yet  they  pressed  on  with  wonderful  perse¬ 
verance.  Around  and  above  us  were  rocks  of  the  wildest 
description,  yet  adorned  with  the  richest  vegetation. 
Trees  of  considerable  size  occasionally  lined  the  Pass  : 
the  largest  were  called  by  the  Arabs  the  balut  and  balur. 
Pleasant  shrubs  and  flowers  also  attracted  our  eye, 

*  Ps.  civ.  10,  12. 


VINE  TERRACES. 


121 


among  which  were  the  oleander,  the  cistus,  the  lavatera, 
and  wild  pink.  The  fragrance  diffused  by  them  was 
truly  delightful,  and  the  voice  of  the  turtle  saluted  our 
ears  again  and  again.  The  eastern  attire  of  Mustapha 
and  the  rest  of  our  band  as  they  urged  on  their  camels, 
corresponded  well  with  the  character  of  the  scene.  A 
more  suitable  fastness  for  banditti  could  hardly  be  found, 
and  it  was  actually  so  employed  in  former  times.  In¬ 
deed,  the  name  Latroon  is  given  to  the  Pass  in  virtue  of 
a  monkish  tradition,  that  it  was  the  resort  of  banditti  of 
which  the  penitent  thief  ( latro )  was  one. 

As  the  hills  opened  we  began  to  trace  more  distinctly 
the  terraces  upon  their  sides,  where  in  former  days  the 
vine  used  to  be  trained.  But  we  were  especially  struck 
with  the  fact,  that  on  many  of  the  hills  these  terraces 
were  natural  formations ;  *  the  industry  of  man  in  other 
places  had  only  followed  the  suggestions  of  nature.  God 
himself  seems  to  have  so  formed  these  hills,  that  the  na¬ 
tural  strata  of  limestone  wind  round  them  in  concentric 
circles,  and  at  regular  intervals.  On  these  natural  ter¬ 
races  they  planted  the  vine  and  olive.  The  God  of  Israel 
thus  taught  them  thriftily  to  use  every  spot  of  their  fruit¬ 
ful  land,  and  to  cover  the  very  rocks  with  the  shadow 
of  their  vines. 

Frequently  when  we  halted  and  looked  calmly  round, 
we  could  not  discover  a  single  spot,  either  in  the  channel 
of  the  ravine,  or  on  the  mountain  side,  that  was  not  ter¬ 
raced  in  some  way.  Often  the  natural  rock  was  suffi¬ 
cient  of  itself  to  preserve  the  soil  from  being  washed 
down.  Rough  stone-dykes  were  built  with  amazing 
pains  along  the  ledge  of  rock,  but  frequently  there  was 
no  rock,  and  the  terrace  was  entirely  the  work  of  men’s 
hands.  In  many  of  the  mountains  the  terraces  appeared 
to  be  perfectly  entire,  and  the  soil  fully  preserved  to  this 
day,  enriched  no  doubt  by  having  lain  fallow  for  ages. 
The  vines  and  the  inhabitants  alone  are  wanting,  and 
the  blessing  from  above.  In  the  hollows  of  the  ravine 
we  sometimes  came  upon  a  small  field  of  barley,  often  a 
fine  olive-yard,  and  sometimes  an  orchard  of  fig-trees, 
but  not  the  vestige  of  a  vine  did  we  see  during  the  whole 
ascent. 

At  a  step  or  turn  of  the  Pass,  near  the  ruins  of  a  small 

*  Richardson  has  noticed  these.  He  first  remarks  (not  quite  accu¬ 
rately)  that  there  are  no  traces  of  artificial  terraces,  and  then  describes 
“  the  horizontal  strata,  which  have  exactly  the  appearance  of  the  stone- 
courses  in  a  building.” 


122 


PASS  OF  LATROON — RAMLA — SHARON. 


building,  we  looked  back  and  obtained  a  delightful  view 
of  the  valley  through  which  we  had  come.  The  sight  of 
the  terraced  hills,  with  their  bright  verdure,  lighted  up 
by  the  brilliant  beams  of  the  morning  sun,  made  us  think 
how  lovely  this  spot  must  have  been  in  the  days  of  David 
and  Solomon,  when  its  luxuriance  was  yet  unblighted 
by  the  curse  of  Israel’s  God. 

At  length  we  reached  the  plantation  of  olive-trees,  and 
the  ruins  of  a  small  fort,  perhaps  the  Modin  of  many 
travellers,  which  mark  the  summit  of  this  interesting 
Pass.  We  had  been  ascending  for  four  hours  and  a 
half  from  Latroon.  From  this  point  we  obtained  a  beau¬ 
tiful  glance  of  Ramla,  lying  to  the  north-west,  in  the 
plain  of  Sharon.  Its  tower,  houses,  and  minarets  were 
conspicuous.  It  has  long  been  regarded  as  Arimathea, 
the  city  of  the  wealthy  Joseph,  whose  noble  character  is 
referred  to  by  each  of  the  Evangelists.  We  felt  that 
perhaps  the  rich  man  came  by  this  very  route  to  Jerusa¬ 
lem  on  the  awful  day  of  the  crucifixion.  Possibly  we 
were  in  his  footsteps,  for  this  is  still  the  Jaffa  road.  By 
this  route  also  would  Peter*  go  down  to  the  saints  who 
dwelt  at  Lydda,  which  is  within  an  hour  of  Ramla,  when 
he  healed  Eneas,  and  drew  the  eyes  of  all  in  that  beauti¬ 
ful  plain  to  the  Rose  of  Sharon. 

We  now  began  to  descend,  and  came  down  upon  a 
beautiful  village  which  the  Arabs  called  Karieh  or  Ku- 
neh.f  It  was  the  residence  of  a  famous  native  chieftain 
named  Abugush,  and  still  belongs  to  his  family.  The 
houses  are  solidly  built  of  stone,  and  there  are  ruins  of 
ancient  buildings,  especially  a  large  church  or  abbey  in 
the  Gothic  style,  which  Ibraim  told  us  was  now  turned 
into  a  mosque.  The  village  is  literally  embosomed 
among  olives,  pomegranates,  and  very  large  fig-trees, 
and  a  solitary  palm  rises  above  the  cluster.  The  pome¬ 
granates  were  in  full  bloom,  the  scarlet  flowers  shining 
brilliantly  from  among  their  deep  green  leaves.  A  flock 
of  goats  was  browsing  beneath  the  trees.  Many  of  the 
terraces  around  were  finely  cultivated,  showing  what 
these  mountains  might  soon  become. 

*  Acts  ix.  35. 

. Professor  Robinson  shows  that  this  may  be  the  site  of  Kirjath- 
learim,  where  the  ark  of  God  remained  for  twenty  years.  1  Sam.  vii. 

2.  Perhaps  Kuryet-el-Enab  may  be  a  corruption  of  Kirjath-Abina- 
dab,  city  of  Aoinadab,  as  Bethany  is  now  called  by  the  name  of  Laza¬ 
rus.  Richardson  calls  the  place  Karialoonah,  but  the  proper  name  is 
Kuryet-el-Enab,  “  city  of  grapes,” — the  woods  of  the  ancient  Kirjath- 
jeanm  having  given  place  to  the  vine. 


VINE  TERRACES. 


123 


Descending  to  the  bottom  of  this  delightful  valley,  the 
hills  on  either  side  were  terraced  in  still  greater  perfec¬ 
tion  than  any  thing  we  had  yet  seen  or  imagined.  These 
hills  are  not  peaked,  but  are  placed  side  by  side,  “  like 
round  balls  placed  in  juxta  position.”  We  often  counted 
forty,  fifty,  sixty,  and  even  seventy  terraces  from  the 


bottom  of  the  wady  up  to  the  summit  of  the  mountain. 
What  a  garden  of  delights  this  must  have  been,  when, 
instead  of  grass  making  green  the  surface,  verdant  and 
luxuriant  vines  were  their  clothing !  Solomon’s  vine¬ 
yard  at  Baal-hamon  *  could  not  have  been  more  noble ; 
and  nowhere  could  we  have  better  understood  the  invi¬ 
tation,  “  Let  us  lodge  in  the  villages ;  let  us  get  up  early 
to  the  vineyards  ;  let  us  see  if  the  vine  flourish,  whether 
the  tender  grape  appear,  and  the  pomegranates  bud 
forth.”  f  We  could  understand  how  the  words  of  Joel 
shall  yet  be  literally  true,  “  The  mountains  shall  drop 
down  new  wine,”  f  when  every  vine  on  these  hills  shall 
be  hanging  its  ripe  clusters  over  the  terraces.  In  ob¬ 
serving,  too,  the  singular  manner  in  which  the  most 
rocky  mountains  have  at  one  time  been  made,  through 
vast  labour  and  industry,  to  )deld  an  abundant  return 
to  the  husbandman,  we  saw  clearly  the  meaning  of  the 
promise  in  Ezekiel,  “  But  ye,  O  mountains  of  Israel,  ye 
shall  shoot  forth  your  branches,  and  yield  your  fruit  to 
my  people  of  Israel ;  for  they  are  at  hand  to  come.”  5 

*  Songviii.  11.  t  Song  vii.  11,  12.  t  Joel  iii.  18. 

$  Ezek.  xxxvi.  8.  See  Dr.  Keith’s  remarks,  made  on  the  spot,  and 
given  in  pp.  110, 120, 121,  of  the  23d  edition  of  his  Evidence  of  Prophecy. 


124 


HILLS  OP  JUDAH — ENGLISH  FRIEND. 


There  seems  to  be  little  doubt  that  the  Psalmist  refers  to 
the  mode  of  training  the  vine  over  these  terraces,  when 
he  says,  “  The  hills  were  covered  with  the  shadow  ofit.”  * 
W e  ascended  another  rocky  path,  and  when  arrived 
at  the  summit  began  to  descend  again  into  a  pleasant 
valley,  overhanging  which  is  the  tower  El  Kustul,  a 
name  derived  from  the  Latin  castellum ;  but  its  history 
is  unknown.  The  pathway  was  very  steep,  so  that  it 
was  sometimes  safer  to  leave  the  camel’s  back  and 
walk ;  still  the  faithful  animals  never  made  a  stumble. 
Half-way  down  this  ravine  there  is  a  well  of  fine  cold 
water,  from  which  we  drank  in  a  broken  sherd.  At  this 
point,  to  our  great  surprise,  a  young  gentleman  in  Euro¬ 
pean  dress  met  and  passed  us  riding  upon  a  mule.  He 
saluted  us  with  “Good  morning;”  the  first  English 
words  we  had  heard  from  a  stranger  for  many  a  day. 
He  proved  to  be  Mr.  Bergheim,  the  assistant  medical  at¬ 
tendant  of  the  Jewish  mission  at  Jerusalem,  on  his  way 
to  Joppa.  Figs  and  vines  were  cultivated  on  many  of 
the  terraces  here,  but  when  we  reached  the  bottom  of  the 
valley,  it  was  one  complete  garden  or  rather  orchard  of 
fruit-trees. .  The  vines,  the  figs,  pomegranates,  peaches, 
citrons,  quinces,  and  lemons,  were  all  budding  or  ripen¬ 
ing  in  a  most  luxuriant  manner.  The  scene  afforded  a 
perfect  picture  of  outward  peace  and  prosperity.  The 
vines  were  twining  round  the  fig-trees  for  support ;  and 
many  of  the  fig-trees  were  “  planted  in  a  vineyard,”  re¬ 
calling  to  our  mind  the  language  used  in  the  parable  of 
our  Lord.f  A  clear  brook  flowing  down  the  valley,  gave 
freshness  and  beauty  to  every  green  thing.  The  Arabs 
washed  themselves  in  it. 

We  now  entered  into  what  is  generally  believed  to  be 
the  Valley  of  Elah.  It  is  called  by  the  Arabs  Wady  Bet 
Hanina;  but  there  is  a  Wady  Aly  not  far  off  that  seems 
to  retain  the  ancient  name.  This  is  believed  by  many 
to  be  the  place  where  David  slew  Goliath  of  Gath,  the 
champion  of  the  Philistines.  J  Whether  it  be  so  or  not, 
the  sight  of  these  deep  valleys  gave  us  a  clear  and  vivid 
impression  of  the  memorable  conflict.  Here  were  hills 
on  each  side,  the  ravine  between  being  deep  and  nar¬ 
row.  On  the  front  of  these  opposing  hills  the  armies 
were  encamped.  “  The  Philistines  stood  on  a  mountain 

,,  *  Ps.  lxxx.  10.  The  Hebrew  word  for  these  terraces  is  found  in 
fc.zek.  xxxviii.  20,  “  the  steep  places,”  nmicn 

t  Luke  xiii.  6.  t  1  Sam.  xvii.  2. 


VALLEY  OF  ELAH — APPROACH  TO  JERUSALEM.  125 

on  the  one  side,  and  Israel  stood  on  a  mountain  on  the 
other  side,  and  there  was  a  valley  between  them.”  They 
could  not  meet  each  other  hand  to  hand  without  de¬ 
scending  into  the  ravine ;  yet  they  could  speak  to  each 
other,  and  hurl  their  words  of  defiance  across  the  inter¬ 
vening  space.  This  explained  to  us  how  the  giant  could 
stand  and  cry  to  the  host  of  Israel,  defying  the  armies  of 
the  living  God,  and  yet  not  come  within  reach  of  their 
weapons.  But  when  David  accepted  the  challenge,  he 
descended  into  this  narrow  valley,  crossed  the  small  run¬ 
ning  brook,  picked  up  five  of  its  smooth  pebbles  for  his 
sling,  and  began  to  climb  the  opposite  ascent.  Goliath 
sees  him,  looks  down  with  contempt,  and  advances  to 
overwhelm  him;  but  David  takes  his  aim  at  him,  and 
slings  the  stone  into  his  forehead.  The  giant  falls  forward 
down  the  slope,  and  David  with  his  own  sword  severs  his 
head  from  his  body,  and  invites  the  armies  of  Israel  to 
cross  the  brook  and  assail  their  blaspheming  foes. 

A  small  village  lay  below  us  in  the  bottom  of  the  hol¬ 
low.  Its  name  is  Caglione  or  Kalonie,  supposed  to  be 
derived  from  the  Latin  colonia ,  but  its  history  is  un¬ 
known.  The  voice  of  the  turtle  saluted  us  from  its 
olive-trees.  We  now  ascended  a  much  barer  mountain, 
and  by  a  path  the  steepest  we  had  yet  climbed,  yet  the 
camels  went  up  wonderfully.  Arrived  at  the  summit,  it 
appeared  as  if  we  had  left  all  cultivation  behind.  A  bare 
desert  of  sun-burnt  rocks  stretches  to  the  right  as  far  as 
the  eye  can  reach.  We  remembered  the  description 
given  by  travellers  of  these  mountains,  and  knew  that 
we  were  near  the  Holy  City.  Every  moment  we  ex¬ 
pected  to  see  Jerusalem.  Though  wearied  by  our  long 
ride,  which  had  now  lasted  seven  hours,  we  eagerly 
pressed  on.  Mr.  M’Cheyne,  dismounting  from  his  camel, 
hurried  forward  on  foot  over  the  rocky"  footpath,  till  he 
gained  the  point  where  the  city  of  the  Lord  comes  first 
in  sight.  Soon  all  of  us  were  on  the  spot,  silent,  buried 
in  thought,  and  wistfully  gazing  on  the  wondrous  scene 
where  the  Redeemer  died.  The  distant  mountains 
beyond  the  city  seemed  so  near,  that  at  first  sight  we 
mistook  them  for  the  mountains  that  enclose  “  the  valley 
of  vision,”  though  they  proved  to  be  the  mountains  of 
Moab,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Dead  Sea.  As  yet  we 
were  not  sufficiently  accustomed  to  the  pure  clear  atmos¬ 
phere,  so  that  distances  were  often  very  deceptive.  As 
our  camels  slowly  approached  the  city,  its  sombre  walls 
rose  before  us;  but  in  these  there  is  nothing  to  attract  or 


126 


JERUSALEM — FEELINGS  ON  ARRIVAL. 


excite  the  feelings.  At  that  moment  we  were  impressed 
chiefly  by  the  fact  that  we  were  now  among  “  the  moun¬ 
tains  that  are  round  about  Jerusalem,”*  and  half  uncon¬ 
scious  that  it  was  true,  we  repeated  inwardly  the  words, 
“  Our  feet  shall  stand  within  thy  gates,  O  Jerusalem.” 
We  got  a  slight  view  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  as  we  rode 
toward  the  Jaffa  Gate.  The  nearer  we  came  to  the  city, 
the  more  we  felt  it  a  solemn  thing  to  be  where  “  God 
manifest  in  flesh  ”  had  walked. 

The  feelings  of  that  hour  could  not  even  be  spoken. 
We  all  moved  forward  in  silence,  or  interchanging  feel¬ 
ings  only  by  a  word.  While  passing  along  the  pathway 
immediately  under  the  western  wall,  from  which  no  ob¬ 
ject  of  any  interest  can  be  seen,  and  entering  the  Jaffa 
Gate,  we  could  understand  the  exclamation,  and  were 
almost  ready  to  use  it  as  our  own,  “  Is  this  the  city  which 
men  call  the  perfection  of  beauty,  the  joy  of  the  whole 
earth  T’f  Its  dark  walls,  and  the  glance  we  got  of  slip¬ 
pery  narrow  streets,  with  low  ill-built  houses,  and  a  poor 
ill-clad  population,  suggested  no  idea  of  the  magnificence 
of  former  days.  But  we  were  soon  to  learn,  that  all  the 
elements  of  Jerusalem’s  glory  and  beauty  ,are  still  re¬ 
maining  in  its  wonderful  situation,  fitting  it  to  be  once 
again  in  the  latter  day,  “  The  city  of  the  Great  King.” 


*  Ps.  cxxv.  2. 


t  Lam.  ii.  15. 


I 


' 


127 


CHAPTER  III. 

JERUSALEM — HEBRON. 

“  Then  said  I,  Whither  goest  thou?  And  he  said  unto  me,  To  mea¬ 
sure  Jerusalem,  to  see  what  is  the  breadth  thereof,  and  what  is  the 
length  thereof.”— Zech.  ii.  2. 

Our  camels  kneeled  down  in  the  open  space  within  the 
gate  of  Jerusalem,  and  we  rested  for  a  short  time  while 
Ibraim  sought  out  the  residence  of  Mr.  Young,  the 
British  Consul,  to  whom  we  had  letters  of  introduction. 
He  soon  returned  to  say  that  the  Consul  was  waiting  for 
us,  and  would  procure  a  lodging  in  part  of  an  unoccu¬ 
pied  house  near  the  Latin  Convent.  Our  camels  and 
servants  moved  slowly  away  to  their  place  of  destina¬ 
tion,  and  we  followed  Ibraim  down  the  steep  and  slippery 
street  opposite  the  Jaffa  Gate.  In  a  few  minutes  we 
were  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Young,  who  received  us  with 
the  greatest  kindness.  He  told'  us  the  general  state  of 
matters  in  Jerusalem.  The  plague  had  not  yet  left  the 
town,  but  the  number  of  cases  was  decreasing;  and 
there  was  no  cordon  drawn  round  the  walls  as  had  lately 
been  the  case.  He  strongly  recommended  us  not  to  en¬ 
camp  on  the  Mount  of  Olives,  as  we  had  proposed,  but 
to  live  in  the  town,  and  use  the  ordinary  precautions  of 
touching  nobody  in  the  streets,  and  receiving  all  articles 
of  food  through  water.  He  then  introduced  us  to  two 
travellers  just  returned  from  Petra  by  the  way  of  Hebron, 
Lord  Claud  Hamilton  and  Mr.  Lyttleton.  The  former 
was  not  a  little  surprised  to  meet  in  Jerusalem  with  Dr. 
Black,  whom  he  had  known  in  former  days  as  a  labori¬ 
ous  student  and  theologian,  and  unassuming  minister  in 
the  parish  of  Tarvis  in  Aberdeenshire. 

Two  large  apartments  were  assigned  to  us  on  Mount 
Acra,  floored  with  stone,  with  a  pleasant  open  space  on 
the  roof  between  them. 

Worn  out  with  incessant  travelling,  we  were  thankful 
to  retire,  that  we  might  refresh  our  weary  frames  and 
compose  our  minds,  which  were  not  a  little  bewildered 
by  the  multitude  of  feelings  that  had  passed  through 


128 


.  JERUSALEM—MR.  NIC'OLAYSON. 


them  this  day.  We  had  not  rested  long  when  Mr.  Nicol- 
ayson,  Missionary  of  the  London  Society  for  the  Con¬ 
version  of  the  Jews,  called  to  welcome  us  to  the  Holy 
City,  as  brethren  and  friends  of  Israel.  He  staid  a  con¬ 
siderable  time  with  us,  talking  over  our  journey,  the  ob¬ 
ject  of  our  visit,  his  own  sphere  of  labour  and  hopes  of 
success,  and  many  matters  regarding  the  spot  where  we 
now  were.  It  was  a  desultory  but  pleasant  conversa¬ 
tion,  a  conversation  about  the  people  and  land  of  Israel 
while  really  sitting  in  their  ancient  capital.  Lord  Ham¬ 
ilton  called  in  the  evening,  and  told  us  much  of  what  he 
had  seen  in  Petra,  and  the  land  of  Egypt.  When  the 
darkness  came  down  we  heard  the  wailings  of  mourners 
over  some  dead  friend,  a  peculiarly  melancholy  sound 
at  all  times,  but  doubly  so  while  the  plague  is  raging. 
Yet  we  never  heard  any  more  joyful  sounds  in  the  streets 
of  Jerusalem — so  true  is  the  prophetic  word,  “I  will 
cause  all  her  mirth  to  cease.”  * 

It  was  with  feelings  that  can  be  better  imagined  than 
described,  that  for  the  first  time  in  our  lives  within  the 
gates  of  Jerusalem,  we  committed  ourselves  and  those 
dear  to  us,  our  Church,  and  the  blessed  cause  in  which 
she  had  sent  us  forth,  to  the  care  of  Him  who  sits  as  a 
King  upon  the  holy  hill  of  Zion.  We  are  not  aware  that 
any  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  was  ever  privi¬ 
leged  to  visit  the  Holy  City  before,  and  now  that  four  of 
us  had  been  brought  thus  far  by  the  good  hand  of  our 
God  upon  us,  we  trusted  that  it  might  be  a  token  for 
good,  and  perhaps  the  dawn  of  a  brighter  day  on  our 
beloved  Church,  a  day  of  generous  self-denied  exertion 
in  behalf  of  scattered  Israel  and  a  perishing  world. 

(Saturday,  June  8.)  We  had  spread  our  mats  on  the 
cool  stone-floor,  hoping  for  a  night  of  calm  repose,  but 
our  rest  was  broken  and  uncomfortable  in  the  extreme, 
our  rooms  being  infested  with  vermin,  a  kind  of  trial 
which  travellers  in  the  East  must  make  up  their  mind 
frequently  to  undergo.  All  our  annoyance,  however, 
was  forgot  by  sunrise.  We  rose  early,  and  finding  the 
road  to  the  Jaffa  Gate,  went  a  little  way  out  of  the  city 
and  sat  down  under  an  olive-tree.  We  turned  to  Psalm 
xlviii,  “  Great  is  the  Lord,  and  greatly  to  be  praised  in 
the  city  of  our  God,  in  the  mountain  of  his  holiness. 
Beautiful  for  situation,  the  joy  of  the  whole  earth,  is 
Mount  Zion,  on  the  sides  of  the  north,  the  city  of  the 


*  Hosea.  ii.  11. 


HEBREW  CHURCH. 


129 


great  King.  God  is  known  in  her  palaces  for  a  refuge.”  * 
Reading  this  with  the  eye  upon  Jerusalem,  the  scenes  of 
former  days  seemed  to  rise  up  as  a  flood.  We  could 
imagine  holy  prophets  and  men  of  God  in  these  fields 
and  within  these  walls.  The  vivid  associations  of  the 
place,  with  all  our  Bible  readings  and  hours  of  holy 
study,  made  it  appear  like  a  spot  where  we  had  once 
met  with  beloved  and  honoured  friends,  whose  absence 
spreads  a  sadness  over  all.  We  read  part  of  Lamenta¬ 
tions,  and  could  feel  sympathy  with  the  prophet  when  he 
cried,  “  How  hath  the  Lord  covered  the  daughter  of  Zion 
with  a  cloud  in  his  anger,  and  cast  down  from  heaven 
unto  the  earth  the  beauty  of  Israel.”  “  He  hath  swallowed 
up  Israel ;  he  hath  swallowed  up  all  her  palaces  !”f 

In  the  forenoon,  Mr.  Nicolayson  kindly  insisted  on  our 
removing  from  our  house  on  Mount  Acra,  to  one  of  the 
Mission-houses  upon  the  northern  brow  of  Mount  Zion. 
Mr.  Pieritz  and  Dr.  Gertsmann,  the  medical  missionary, 
being  from  home,  we  were  put  in  possession  of  their  com¬ 
fortable  rooms,  with  an  outer  one  for  our  two  Arab  ser¬ 
vants.  In  this  house,  one  of  our  windows  opened  to¬ 
ward  the  east,  having  a  fine  view  of  the  dome  of  the 
Mosque  of  Omar,  which  rises  over  the  site  of  Solomon’s 
Temple,  and  beyond  it  was  the  Mount  of  Olives.  That 
ever-memorable  hill,  with  its  three  summits,  its  white 
limestone  rocks  appearing  here  and  there,  and  its  wide 
bosom  still  sprinkled  over  with  the  olive-tree,  was  the 
object  on  which  our  eye  rested  every  morning  as  we 
rose,  an  object  well  fitted  to  call  to  mind  the  words  of 
Jesus  spoken  there,  “  Watch  ye,  therefore,  for  ye  know 
not  when  the  master  of  the  house  cometh,  at  even,  or  at 
midnight,  or  at  the  cock-crowing,  or  in  the  morning.”| 
Toward  the  west,  the  object  that  first  met  our  eye  used  to 
be  a  solitary  palm-tree,  growing  amidst  a  heap  of  ruins, 
and  waving  its  branches  over  them,  as  if  pointing  to  the 
fulfilment  of  the  prophecy,  “  Jerusalem  shall  become 
heaps.”§ 

The  site  of  the  proposed  Hebrew  church  was  not  far 
off.  It  is  close  to  Mr,  Nicolayson’s  own  house.  At  that 
time  the  foundations  were  only  digging,  and  builders 
were  preparing  the  stones,  which  we  saw  camels  carry¬ 
ing  into  town.  W e  were  told  that  they  were  brought 
from  a  quarry  a  few  miles  north  of  Jerusalem,  near  a 
village  called  Anata,  the  ancient  Anathoth,  where  Jere- 

*  Ps.  xlviii.  1,  2,  3.  +  Lam.  ii.  1,  5. 

t  Mark  xiii.  35.  §  Mic.  iii.  12. 


13* 


130 


JERUSALEM — PROPHECY — JEWS. 


miah  was  born.  In  seeking  a  solid  foundation  they  had 
dug  down  about  forty  feet,  and  had  not  yet  come  to 
rock.  They  laid  bare  heap  after  heap  of  rubbish  and 
ancient  stones.*  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  which  cannot 
but  strike  the  traveller,  that  not  only  on  Mount  Zion,  but 
in  many  parts  of  the  city,  the  modern  town  is  really  built 
on  the  rubbish  of  the  old.  The  heaps  of  ancient  Jeru¬ 
salem  are  still  remaining ;  indurated  masses  of  stones 
and  rubbish  forty  and  fifty  feet  deep  in  many  places. 
Truly  the  prophets  spoke  with  a  divine  accuracy  when 
they  said,  “  Jerusalem  shall  become  heaps.”f  “  I  will 
make  Jerusalem  heaps.”!  And  if  so,  shall  not  the  future 
restoration  foretold  by  the  same  lips  be  equally  literal  and 
full?  “The  city  shall  be  builded  upon  her  own  heap.”§ 
The  fact  that  these  heaps  of  ruins  are  of  so  great  depth, 
suggested  to  us  a  literal  interpretation  of  the  words  of 
Jeremiah,  “Her  gates  are  sunk  into  the  ground.”||  The 
ancient  gates  mentioned  by  NehemiahU  are  no  longer 
to  be  found,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  several  of  them 
may  be  literally  buried  below  the  feet  of  the  inquiring 
traveller. 

During  the  day  we  began  inquiries  after  the  Jews  in 
their  own  land.  We  were  told  that  the  plague  prevailed 
most  of  all  in  their  quarter,  and  that  we  must  be  very 
cautious  in  visiting  their  houses.  Meanwhile  Mr.  Nico- 
layson  afforded  us  every  information.  The  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  the  conversion  of  the  Jews  are  certainly 
greater  in  Palestine  than  elsewhere.  The  chief  of  these 
difficulties  are,  1.  That  Jerusalem  is  the  stronghold  of 
Rabbinism;  the  Jews  here  being  all  strict  Rabbinists, 
and,  as  might  be  expected,  superstitious  in  the  extreme. 
2.  A  Missionary  has  fewer  points  of  contact  with  the 
Jews  here  than  in  other  countries.  He  cannot  reach 
them  through  the  press,  nor  address  them  in  large  assem¬ 
blies  ;  his  work  must  be  carried  on  entirely  by  personal 
intercourse,  so  that  it  is  like  wrenching  out  the  stones 
of  a  building  one  by  one.  3.  The  opposition  to  an  inquir- 

*  They  have  sin?e  reached  the  old  foundations  (Isa.  lviii.  12),  after 
digging  fifty  feet.  See  Mr.  JYicolayson  s  letter  in  the  Jewish  Intelligence 
for  April  1840.  It  is  a  striking  fact,  that  the  foundations  of  Jerusalem 
should  be  thus  hid  in  the  ground,  when  we  contrast  it  with  the  case  of 
Samaria,  of  which  it  was  foretold,  “  I  will  discover  the  foundations 
thereof.  (Mic.  i.  6.)  Here  is  the  accurate  minuteness  and  distinguish¬ 
ing  definiteness  of  the  God  of  truth,  who  can  point  his  finger  to  one 
spot  and  say,  “  It  shall  be  thus  with  thee  and  turn  to  another  spot  and 
say  in  equal  sovereignty,  “  It  shall  be  otherwise  with  thee !” 

t  Mic.  iii.  12.  f  Jer.  ix.  11.  $  Jer.  xxx.  18. 

II  Lam.  n.  9.  IT  Nehem.  iii. 


JEWISH  SCHOOLS— MISSIONARIES. 


131 


ing  or  converted  Jew  is  here  much  greater  than  in  any 
other  country,  for  it  is  regarded  as  a  very  awful  calami¬ 
ty  that  any  one  should  become  an  apostate  in  the  Holy 
City.  4.  All  the  Jews  in  the  Holy  Land  are  more  or  less 
dependent  on  pecuniary  supplies  annually  sent  from 
Europe.  But  the  moment  any  one  is  known  to  be  in¬ 
quiring  after  Christ,  he  is  cut  off  from  all  share  in  this 
fund,  and  is  thrown  utterly  destitute. 

Schools  for  Jewish  children  have  never  been  establish¬ 
ed  in  Jet  usalem ;  and,  in  the  present  state  of  things,  it 
seems  impossible  that  they  could  succeed  ;  for  there  are 
not  here,  as  in  Poland  and  Germany,  any  worldly  in¬ 
ducements  to  prevail  with  Jews  to  send  their  children  to 
be  educated ;  there  being  no  situations  of  wealth  or  dis¬ 
tinction  open  to  their  young  men,  which  might  tempt 
them  to  accept  of  a  liberal  education  for  their  youth. 
The  London  Society  have  entertained  the  plan  of  insti¬ 
tuting  a  school  for  converts,  in  which  many  branches  of 
general  knowledge  would  be  taught,  and  this  might  per¬ 
haps  allure  some  of  their  brethren  to  attend. 

In  regard  to  Missionaries,  a  converted  Jew  is  in  some 
respects  a  better  missionary  than  a  Gentile.  It  is  true 
he  meets  with  greater  opposition  in  the  first  instance, 
but  in  process  of  time,  the  fact  of  his  change  never  fails 
to  make  an  impression  on  his  brethren,  provided  they 
see  in  him  consistency  of  temper,  character,  and  life.  A 
Jew  will  indeed  listen  more  readily  to  a  Gentile  Chris¬ 
tian,  and  show  him  more  respect;  but  then  he  listens 
more  carelessly  and  thinks  less  of  what  is  said,  because 
he  thinks  it  natural  for  a  Gentile  so  to  speak.  A  Gentile 
missionary  again,  has  the  advantage  of  more  ready 
access  to  the  Jews,  being  regarded  with  far  less  preju¬ 
dice  ;  but  a  Jewish  convert  is  more  efficient  where  con¬ 
fidence  is  once  established.  Perhaps  the  true  principle 
in  missions  to  the  Jews,  is  to  unite  both  Jewish  and  Gen¬ 
tile  labourers  in  the  same  field. 

The  importance  of  erecting  a  church  on  Mount  Zion, 
where  Protestant  worship  might  be  maintained  in  its 
purity,  is  that  it  may  open  the  eyes  of  the  Jews  to  see 
what  true  Christianity  is.  At  present,  they  justly  regard 
the  Greek  and  Romish  churches  as  idolatrous  and  licen¬ 
tious  in  the  extreme,  and  believe  the  English  to  be  Neo- 
logians  or  Infidels,  without  any  religion.0 

The  hope  of  Messiah’s  coming  is  strong  in  the  hearts 
of  many  Jews  here.  Many  believed  that  it  would  be  in 
the  year  1840,  as  that  was  the  end  of  a  period  fixed  in 
the  book  of  Zohar ;  and  some  said  that  if  they  were  dis- 


132 


JERUSALEM — TOMB  OF  DAVID. 


appointed  in  that  year,  they  would  turn  Christians ;  but 
this  is  a  mere  saying,  for  they  have  often  declared  the 
same  before,  and  when  the  time  came  have  found  out 
excuses  for  Messiah’s  delay. 

The  tact  that  Palestine  is  the  stronghold  of  Rabbinism 
appears  to  be  a  sufficient  reason  why  Christians  should 
direct  their  most  vigorous  efforts  to  send  the  light  of  the 
gospel  among  the  Jews  of  this  land.  There  have  been 
many  tokens  for  good  and  encouraging  appearances  of 
late  years  among  the  Jews  at  Jerusalem.  Their  wretch¬ 
ed  condition  in  the  city  where  their  fathers  ruled,  loudly 
calls  for  sympathy.  They  are  poor  and  despised,  and 
sadly  divided  among  themselves.  The  Consul  told  us 
of  a  Jew  who  last  week  was  beaten  till  he  died,  by  order 
of  the  Governor.  He  was  not  proven  to  be  guilty  of  the 
offence  laid  to  his  charge,  and  was  not  in  reality  guilty, 
yet  there  was  none  to  plead  his  cause,  or  avenge  his 
murder. 

In  the  cool  of  the  evening  we  enjoyed  our  first  walk 
about  Jerusalem,  Mrs.  Nicolayson  accompanying  us  upon 
her  donkey.  Passing  by  the  Armenian  Convent,  which 
appeared  to  be  the  largest  and  most  substantial  in  the 
city,  surrounded  with  a  pleasant  garden,  we  went  out  at 
the  Zion  Gate,  the  only  gate  now  open  on  the  southern 
wall  of  the  town,  and  came  out  upon  the  open  summit 
of  Mount  Zion,  for  one-half  of  that  hill  is  now  outside  of 
the  walls.  A  gloomy  ill-shaped  building  near  the  gate  is 
an  Armeniant  Convent,  enclosing  what  is  called  by  the 
monks  the  House  of  Caiaphas ;  and  nearer  the  southern 
brow  is  a  small  mosque  covering  the  tomb  of  David. 
The  minarets  of  this  mosque,  and  that  on  the  Mount  of 
Olives,  were  both  destroyed  by  an  earthquake  a  few 
years  ago.  There  is  a  prevailing  and  much-credited  tra¬ 
dition,  that  within  that  building  is  the  very  tomb  of 
which  Peter  said  in  his  sermon,  “  Plis  sepulchre  is  with 
us  unto  this  day.”* 

These  are  the  only  prominent  buildings  upon  the  un¬ 
walled  part  of  Zion.  Leaving  them  on  the  left,  we  wan¬ 
dered  among  the  flat  tombstones  of  the  Greeks  and  Lat¬ 
ins.  The  graves  of  some  of  the  American  missionaries 
were  pointed  out  to  us,  and  also  a  small  spot  of  ground 
which  they  have  purchased  and  enclosed  as  a  burying- 
place,  though  we  were  told  that  they  were  still  uncertain 
whether  they  would  be  permitted  to  bury  in  it,  as  the 
Moslems  had  found  out  that  the  shadow  of  David’s 
mosque  fell  upon  it  at  certain  hours  of  the  day. 

*  Acts  ii.  29. 


MOUNT  ZION — VALLEY  OF  HINNOM. 


133 


Zion  is  truly  desolate  The  only  fortified  building 
upon  it  is  the  Castle  of  David,  erected  on  the  site  of  the 
tower  of  Hippicus,  within  the  walls,  and  close  by  the 
Jaffa  Gate.  This  alone  of  all  the  bulwarks  of  former 
days  still  remains,  so  that  when  we  obeyed  the  com¬ 
mand,  “  Walk  about  Zion,  and  go  round  about  her;  tell 
the  towers  thereof,”  *  we  saw  in  the  very  absence  of  all 
her  towers  and  fortresses  the  force  of  the  words,  “  They 
that  trust  in  the  Lord  shall  be  as  Mount  Zion,  which 
cannot  be  removed,  but  abideth  for  ever.”  f  Full  trust 
in  the  Lord  our  Righteousness,  apart  from  all  human 
helps  and  additions,  establishes  the  soul  firm  as  the  hill 
of  Zion,  firmer  far  than  all  its  bulwarks  and  palaces, 
which  are  now  swept  away  as  if  they  had  never  been. 

Approaching  nearer  to  the  brow  of  the  hill,  we  found 
ourselves  in  the  midst  of  a  large  field  of  barley.  The 
crop  was  very  thin,  and  the  stalks  very  small,  but  no 
sight  could  be  more  interesting  to  us.  We  plucked  some 
of  the  ears  to  carry  home  with  us,  as  proofs  addressed  to 
the  eye  that  God  had  fulfilled  his  true  and  faithful  word, 
“  Therefore  shall  Zion  for  your  sake  be  ploughed  as  a 
field.”  f  The  palaces,  the  towers,  the  whole  mass  of 
warlike  defences,  have  given  way  before  the  word  of  the 
Lord,  and  a  crop  of  barley  waves  to  the  passing  breeze 
instead  of  the  banner  of  war.  On  the  steep  sides  of  the 
hill,  we  afterwards  found  flourishing  cauliflowers  ar¬ 
ranged  in  furrows,  which  had  evidently  been  made  by 
the  plough ;  so  that  this  important  prophecy,  twice  re¬ 
corded,  §  is  most  fully  accomplished. 

From  the  southern  verge  of  Zion,  we  looked  down 
into  the  valley  of  Hinnom,  still  called  Wady  Jehennam, 
which  lies  nearly  due  east  and  west.  It  appeared  very 
deep,  the  opposite  side  rocky  and  precipitous,  and  the 
bosom  of  it  filled  with  shady  olive-trees.  Here  Manas- 
seh  caused  his  children  to  pass  through  the  fire  to  Mo¬ 
loch  ;  ||  and  here  Jeremiah  uttered  that  dreadful  prophecy, 
“This  place  shall  no  more  be  called  Tophet,  nor  the 
valley  of  the  son  of  Hinnom,  but  the  valley  of  Slaughter.”1T 
From  the  awful  wickedness  committed  in  this  valley, 


*  Ps.  xlviii.  12. 

t  Ps.  cxxv.  1.  The  force  of  this  verse  is  evidently  misunderstood 
when  applied  to  the  fortress,  as  done  by  Buchanan, — 

“  Sionis  arcem  non  aquilo  impotens 
Saxo  sedentem  perpetuo  quatit.” 
t  Mic.  iii.  12.  $  Jer.  xxvi.  18.  Mic.  iii.  12. 

II  2  Chron.  xxxiii.  6.  IT  Jer.  xix.  6. 


134 


JERUSALEM — LOWER  POOL  OF  GIHON. 


perhaps  as  much  as  from  the  Satanic  fires  kindled  in  it, 
the  name  came  to  signify  the  place  of  eternal  sin  and 
woe.  To  us  it  appeared  a  pleasant  shady  valley,  but  in 
other  days,  when  the  precipitous  sides  were  planted 
with  thick  trees,  it  may  have  been  gloomy  enough. 

Instead  of  descending  into  it,  we  turned  and  went 
down  the  steep  western  side  of  Zion  into  the  valley  of 
Gihon,  which  lies  nearly  north  and  south  on  the  west 
side  of  Jerusalem,  to  examine  the  upper  and  lower  Pools 
of  Gihon.  We  came  first  to  the  lower  pool,*  and,  stand¬ 
ing  on  the  edge,  were  surprised  at  the  vast  size  of  the 
basin,  which  is  by  far  the  largest  reservoir  of  the  Holy 
City,  though  it  is  much  dilapidated  and  perfectly  dry.  It 
is  formed  in  a  very  simple  manner,  by  throwing  a  massy 
wall  across  the  lower  end  of  the  valley.  This  wall  an¬ 
swers  the  purpose  of  a  bridge,  which  is  crossed  in  going 
to  Bethlehem.  There  is  a  neat  fountain  at  the  middle  of 
it,  to  refresh  the  traveller,  with  an  Arabic  inscription ; 
but  we  found  no  water  in  it.  The  stones  of  this  wall  are 
closely  cemented,  and  the  work  is  evidently  ancient. 
There  are  also  the  remains  of  a  wall  at  the  upper  end, 
and  on  both  sides.  The  bottom  of  the  pool  is  merely  the 
natural  bed  of  the  valley,  and  is  bare  and  rocky.  On  one 
of  the  ledges  of  the  rock  beneath  us,  sat  two  men  beating 
out  corn  with  a  staff ;  which  is  used  instead  of  our  flail, 
and  is  referred  to  by  Isaiah,  “  The  fitches  are  beaten  out 
with  a  staff,  and  the  cummin  with  a  rod.”  f  The  meas¬ 
urements  of  the  pool  are  as  follows : — 

Length  on  west  side,  .  .  .  616  feet 

...  on  east  side,  .  .  584  ... 

Breadth  at  north  end,  .  .  245  ... 

at  south  end,  .  .  264  ... 

Depth  about  .  .  .  .  40  ... 

We  proceeded  up  the  valley  as  far  as  under  the  Jaffa 
Gate,  and  then  to  the  north-west,  till  we  came  upon  the 
conduit  or  rude  aqueduct  of  the  upper  pool,  out  of 
which  a  flock  were  satisfying  their  thirst,  and  shortly 
after  to  the  upper  pool  of  Gihon  itself  The  walls  of  this 
pool  are  in  a  much  more  perfect  condition  than  those  of 
the  lower  pool,  the  strong  walls  being  unbroken,  the 
cement  still  remaining,  and  the  steps  into  it  from  the 
corners  nearly  entire.  It  was  about  half-full  of  pure  water. 
We  spent  some  time  here,  and  plucked  leaves  from  a 
large  Botin  or  Terebinth  tree,  \  which  grows  close  by. 

*  Isa.  xxii.  9.  t  Isa.  xxviii.  27. 

{  The  hSn  of  Scripture. 


UPPER  POOL  OF  GIHON. 


135 


It  was  here  that  Solomon  was  anointed  king ;  and  these 
valleys  were  once  made  to  resound  with  the  cry,  God 
save  King  Solomon*  This  is  the  spot  also  where  the 
prophet  Isaiah  stood  with  his  son  Shear-jashub,  the  type 
of  returning  Israel.  “  Go  forth  now  to  meet  Ahaz,  thou 
and  Shear-jashub  thy  son,  at  the  end  of  the  conduit  of 
the  upper  pool,  in  the  highway  of  the  fuller’s  field.”f 
The  conduit  here  spoken  of  is  no  doubt  the  same  as  that 
mentioned  above,  which  now  conducts  the  water  from 
the  pool  into  the  city ;  and  we  were  told  that  it  carries 
the  water  into  Hezekiah’s  pool,  a  large  tank  upon  Mount 
Acra,  at  the  back  of  the  Consul’s  house,  which  we  after 
wards  saw.  “  The  end  of  the  conduit”  must  be  the  place 
where  it  first  appears  above  ground,  so  that  the  high 
way  to  the  fuller’s  field  probably  passed  that  spot.  Be 
side  the  same  pool  where  Solomon  had  been  anointed 
king,  did  the  venerable  Prophet  stand  and  tell  Israel  ol 
their  coming  King  and  Saviour,  “  Behold,  a  virgin  shah 
conceive  and  bear  a  son,  and  shall  call  his  name  Im 
manuel.”| 

It  is  interesting  also  to  remark,  that  it  was  here  Rab- 
shakeh,  the  Assyrian  captain,  stood  at  the  head  of  a  grea* 
army,  and  reproached  the  living  God.§  And  it  was  from 
this  point,  that  he  cried  in  the  Jews’  language  to  the  men 
that  sat  upon  the  wall,  a  fact  which  goes  to  prove,  that 
the  wall  of  Jerusalem  must  have  extended  much  farther 
to  the  north-west  than  it  does  at  present. 

As  we  took  the  dimensions  of  this  pool,  the  scenery  of 
Zechariah  ||  was  recalled,  the  measuring  of  the  ancient 
places  of  Jerusalem  being  now  to  us  a  matter  of  deepest 
interest.  The  measurements  were  these : — 

Length  on  north  side,  .  .  318  feet 

on  south  side,  .  .  .  315  ... 

Breadth  on  west  side,  .  .  150  ... 

on  east  side,  .  .  .  218  ... 

Depth,  .  .  .  .  18  or  20  ... 

Around  the  pool  is  a  burying-place  for  the  Mahometan 
dead,  where  tombs  were  lying  broken  and  scattered 
about  in  a  most  desolate  manner.  From  the  rising 
ground  near,  we  got  a  view  of  the  plain  or  valley  of 
Rephaim,  lying  south-west  of  the  city,  and  which  is  still 
so  fertile,  that  we  were  assured  it  is  capable  of  yielding 
three  crops  in  the  year.  To  this  fertility  the  prophet 
Isaiah  refers.  He  says,  “  The  glory  of  Jacob  shall  be  made 

*  1  Kings  i.  38,  39.  t  Isa.  vii.  3.  t  Isa.  vii.  14. 

§  Isa.  xxxvi.  2,  13.  II  Zech.  ii.  2. 


136 


JERUSALEM — PLAIN  OP  REPHAIM. 


thin,”  and  shall  be  no  more  like  the  rich  waving  fields  of 
Rephaim,  but  only  like  its  gleanings  ;  “  it  shall  be  as  he 
that  gathereth  ears  in  the  valley  of  Rephaim.”  * 

In  this  plain,  too,  David  twice  defeated  the  Philistines, 
who  had  penetrated  as  near  as  this  to  the  royal  city  ;f 
and  somewhere  not  far  off  was  Baal-perazim,  where  the 
heat  of  the  conflict  was  greatest, — the  type  of  a  yet  more 
terrible  conflict  in  the  latter  days,  when  “  the  Lord  shall 
rise  up  as  in  Mount  Perazim.”J 

By  the  help  of  Mr.  Nicolayson,  we  now  attempted  to 
trace  the  probable  extent  of  ancient  J erusalem  upon  the 
north.  There  is  room  for  a  great  city  on  the  elevated 
ground  to  the  north  of  the  present  wall,  and  there  can 
be  little  doubt  that  the  Bezetha  of  Josephus,  which 
Agrippa  enclosed  with  a  third  wall  of  great  strength, 
occupied  a  vast  range  of  that  district.  It  now  consists 
of  cultivated  fields  and  olive  plantations :  but  remains 
of  ruins  are  visible  in  many  parts  of  it.  When  the  wall 
of  the  city  was  thus  stretched  out  to  the  north,  and  in¬ 
cluded  the  whole  of  Mount  Zion  on  the  south,  it  is  not 
very  difficult  to  understand  how  Jerusalem  could  con¬ 
tain  the  millions  who  are  said  to  have  been  sometimes 
gathered  into  it.  In  the  distant  north,  we  could  see  the 
hill  Scopus  which  encloses  Jerusalem  on  the  north, 
where  Titus  first  encamped  when  he  came  to  besiege 
Jerusalem,  “from  whence  the  city  began  already  to 
be  seen,  and  a  splendid  view  was  obtained  of  the  great 
temple”  (to  tov  vaov  ixsyeOog  EKXaixnpov ).§  We  returned  by  the 
Cave  of  Jeremiah,  a  grotto  cut  in  the  rock  almost  due 
north  of  the  Damascus  Gate,  lying  in  the  road  from  Ana- 
thoth,  his  native  village,  and  where  tradition  says  he 
wrote  the  Book  of  Lamentations.  We  reached  our 
dwelling  a  little  before  the  city  gates  were  closed  for  the 
night. 

We  thought  with  joy  of  the  Sabbath  that  was  now 
drawing  on — a  Sabbath  in  Jerusalem.  It  seemed  to  us 
a  wonderful  privilege  to  be  allowed  to  worship  in  the 
very  city  where  Immanuel  died,  and  where  his.  living 
voice  was  so  often  heard,  calling  upon  Jerusalem  sinners, 
in  accents  of  more  than  human  tenderness,  “  How  often 
would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  together,  even  as  a 
hen  gathereth  her  chickens  under  her  wings,  and  ye 
would  not.” || 

(Sabbath,  June  9.)  The  morning  seemed  the  dawn  of 

*  Isa.  xvii.  5.  t  2  Sam.  v.  17— 25.  t  Isa.  xxviii.  21. 

$  Josephus,  v.  2,  3.  II  Matt,  xxiii.  37. 


FIRST  SABBATH  IN  JERUSALEM. 


137 


some  peculiar  season,  from  the  thought  that  we  were  in 
Jerusalem.  We  sung  together  in  our  morning  worship, 
Psalm  lxxxiv.  1 — 4,  “How  lovely  is  thy  dwelling-place.” 
At  ten  o’clock,  according  to  agreement,  we  met  in  Mr. 
Young’s  house,  where  divine  service  was  at  that  time 
conducted.  It  was  an  upper  room;  that  being  gener¬ 
ally  the  situation  of  the  largest  and  most  airy  apart¬ 
ments  in  the  East,  and  also  farthest  removed  from  the 
noise  and  bustle  of  the  street.*  Here  was  gathered  to¬ 
gether  a  little  assembly  of  fourteen  or  fifteen  souls  to 
worship  according  to  the  Scriptures.  How  different 
from  the  time  when  in  the  same  city  “  the  number  of  the 
men  that  believed  was  about  five  thousand  !”  After  Mr. 
Nicolayson  had  gone  through  the  service  of  the  liturgy, 
Dr.  Black  preached  on  Isaiah  ii.  1 — 5.  It  was  very  plea¬ 
sant  thus  to  mingle  our  services,  and  to  forget  the  differ¬ 
ences  between  our  churches  in  the  place  where  Jesus 
died,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  was  given.  On  our  way  back 
to  our  lodging,  we  had  to  pass  through  a  small  part  of 
the  Bazaar.  Here  all  was  going  on  as  on  other  days, 
and  we  were  forcibly  reminded  that  “  Jerusalem  is  trod¬ 
den  down  of  the  Gentiles.”f 
Having  rested  till  the  noon-day  heat  was  past,  we 
went  at  four  o’clock  to  the  house  of  one  Simeon,  a  con¬ 
verted  Jew,  where  Mr.  Nicolayson  went  through  the 
evening  service  of  the  liturgy  in  German,  and  preached 
on  Hebrews  xii.  5,  6.  At  five  in  the  evening,  we  assem¬ 
bled  again  in  the  upper  room,  when  Dr.  Keith  conducted 
the  service  in  our  own  Presbyterian  form,  and  preached 
from  1  Kings  xviii.  21.  All  these  exercises  were  very 
solemn  and  reviving  ;  yet  still  we  frequently  felt  through¬ 
out  the  day  that  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  the  place  itself, 
however  sacred,  to  enlighten  and  refresh  a  sinner’s  soul. 
Compassed  about  as  we  were  on  every  side  with  the 
memorials  of  the  Saviour’s  work,  our  eyes  gazing  on 
the  Mount  of  Olives,  our  feet  standing  on  the  holy  hill  of 
Zion,  we  felt  that  there  was  still  as  much  need  as  ever 
that  “  the  Spirit  should  take  of  the  things  of  Christ  and 
shew  them  unto  us,”  as  he  himself  declared  when  sitting 
with  his  disciples  in  such  an  upper  room  as  this  in  Jeru¬ 
salem.  “  The  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ, 
is  not  an  object  within  the  compass  of  the  natural  eye. 
Associations  of  place  and  time  cannot  open  the  eye  to 
see  it ;  though  such  associations  as  those  with  which  we 

*  Mark  xiv.  15.  t  Luke  xxi.  24.  f 2  Cor.  iv.  6. 

14 


138  JERUSALEM — LORD  HAMILTON—BEDOUIN  CHIEF. 

were  now  surrounded  soften  the  mind,  and  suggest  the 
wish  to  comprehend  what  “God  manifest  in  flesh”  re¬ 
vealed.  Even  were  Christ  already  “  reigning  in  Jerusa¬ 
lem,  and  before  his  ancients  gloriously,”  nothing  less 
than  heavenly  eye-salve  would  enable  us  to  say,  “We 
beheld  his  glory !” 

The  temperature  this  day  was  remarkably  mild.  We 
could  almost  compare  it  to  one  of  the  hottest  summer 
days  at  home.  From  its  elevated  situation,  Jerusalem  is 
visited  by  pleasant  breezes,  which  must  add  greatly  to 
the  salubrity  of  the  climate.* 

(June  10.)  We  met  with  Lord  Claud  Hamilton  this 
morning,  and  obtained  from  him  some  information  re¬ 
garding  Petra  and  Sinai.  He  believes  that  the  place 
shown  as  that  where  Moses  prayed  while  Joshua  fought 
with  Amalek  in  the  valley,  may  be  the  precise  spot.  It 
commands  a  complete  view  of  the  valley,  and  of  every 
object  in  it.  The  rock  said  to  be  that  out  of  which  the 
water  gushed  is  a  very  remarkable  one.  In  Upper  Egypt 
he  saw  a  mustard-tree  higher  than  he  could  reach,  and 
its  stem  as  thick  as  his  arm ;  illustrating  the  parable  of 
the  mustard-seed.f 

In  the  forenoon,  we  went  to  the  Consul’s  house,  and 
met  with  a  Bedouin  chief  who  had  come  to  accompany 
Lord  Hamilton  to  Ammon  and  Jerash  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Jordan.  He  was  a  genuine  son  of  Ishmael,  pos¬ 
sessing  a  commanding  figure,  with  dark  and  striking 
features.  He  wore  the  yellow  shawl  of  the  Bedouins 
over  his  head,  fastened  on  by  two  circles  of  a  rope  made 
of  camel’s  hair.  His  arm  was  bare  up  to  the  elbow,  and 
the  motions  of  his  hands  and  features  were  graceful  and 
expressive.  Dr.  Keith  tried  to  ascertain  from  him  the 
fact  of  porcupines  being  found  in  Petra ;  he  asked  him 
what  the  kangfud  was,  when  the  Bedouin  immediately 
imitated  the  cry  it  uttered,  and,  on  being  shown  a  por¬ 
cupine  quill,  at  once  recognised  it  as  belonging  to  the 
kangfud.\  He  exacted  the  sum  of  10/.  from  the  travel¬ 
lers,  simply  for  the  favour  of  giving  them  a  safe  conduct 
through  the  country  of  the  Bedouins. 

In  the  Consul’s  house,  we  saw  a  tame  gazelle,  gentle 
and  timid,  with  bright  black  eyes.  Mr.  Nicolayson’s  two 
little  girls  had  another.  So  that  they  are  still  known  “  to 

*  “  On  a  line  drawn  from  the  north  end  of  the  Dead  Sea  towards  the 
due  west,  the  ridge  has  an  elevation  of  2500  Paris  feet ;  and  here,  close 
upon  the  water-shed,  lies  the  city  of  Jerusalem.” — Robinson,  vol.  i.  p  381 

t  Matt.  xiii.  31.  t  See  p.  54. 


CHURCH  OF  THE  HOLY  SEPULCHRE 


139 


the  daughters  of  Jerusalem”  as  in  Solomon’s  days,  “  I 
charge  you,  O  ye  daughters  of  Jerusalem,  by  the  gazelles, 
and  by  the  hinds  of  the  field.”*  We  saw  also  a  very 
tall  and  beautiful  lily,  perhaps  such  a  one  as  our  Lord 
pointed  to  when  he  said,  “  Consider  the  lilies  how  they 
grow.”  f 

We  this  day  visited  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre, 
believed  by  so  many  to  cover  the  very  spot  of  Calvary 
where  our  Lord  was  crucified  and  buried, — a  visit  which 
awakened  in  our  minds  only  feelings  painful  and  revolt¬ 
ing.  The  descriptions  of  this  place  commonly  given  in 
books  of  travels  are  perfectly  accurate,  and  indeed  the 
wonder  is  that  the  writers  should  have  been  so  careful 
in  describing  what  no  serious  mind  can  regard  but  as 
“lying  wonders.”  The  church  is  not  remarkable  for 
elegance  or  beauty,  and  the  pictures,  with  a  few  excep¬ 
tions  are  far  from  being  of  the  first  order.  In  the  centre 
stands  a  marble  house  enclosing  the  sepulchre.  We  en¬ 
tered  and  examined  the  sarcophagus,  which  is  of  white 
marble.  Even  the  monks  seemed  to  be  a  great  deal 
more  taken  up  with  the  silver  lamps  hung  over  it  than 
with  the  tomb  itself.  We  were  then  led  to  a  flat  stone 
of  reddish  marble,  on  which,  say  the  monks,  the  Saviour’s 
body  was  anointed.  With  lighted  tapers  we  descended 
to  a  damp  dark  place,  where  Helena  is  said  to  have  found 
the  three  crosses.  The  rock  of  Calvary,  so  called  by  the 
monks,  is  only  a  few  paces  from  the  sepulchre.  Ascend¬ 
ing  some  twenty  steps  into  a  small  chapel,  the  guide  lifted 
up  a  gilded  star  in  the  floor,  and  showed  what  is  called 
the  hole  in  the  rock  where  the  cross  was  fixed.  In  a 
dark  chapel  underneath  lighted  by  a  single  lamp,  he 
pointed  to  the  well-known  fissure  in  the  rock,  pretended 
to  be  the  rent  that  was  made  when  Jesus  died.  We  had 
little  patience  to  go  round  all  the  spots  accounted  sacred 
under  the  roof  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre ; 
and  each  of  us  felt  the  blush  of  honest  indignation  rising 
in  our  face  at  the  mingled  folly  and  profanity  of  the  whole 
scene.  To  do  the  monks  justice,  they  seemed  to  have  as 
little  feeling  of  reverence  toward  the  holy  place  as  we 
could  possibly  have,  and  Ibraim,  our  Arab  servant  who 
accompanied  us,  was  fully  as  deeply  impressed  as  any  of 
the  party.  The  fissure  in  the  rock,  and  the  tombs  of 
Joseph  and  Nicodemus  (so  called,)  situated  in  a  dark  cha¬ 
pel  behind  the  marble  sepulchre,  were  the  only  objects 
which  peculiarly  drew  our  attention,  both  being  in  the 

*  Song  ii.  7.  niios  t  Luke  xii.  27 


140 


JERUSALEM — SITE  OF  CALVARY. 


natural  rock.  As  for  the  rest,  if  Calvary  was  really  with 
in  these  walls,  then  truly  Popery  has  contrived  to  hide 
the  place  where  the  Redeemer  died,  as  completely  as  she 
has  done  the  person  of  the  Redeemer  himself.  The 
simple  work  of  Immanuel,  in  its  essential  native  glory,  is 
an  idea  far  beyond  the  reach  of  Popery — or  perhaps  it  is 
perceived,  but  on  account  of  its  innate  power,  is  studi¬ 
ously  hid.  “  The  god  of  this  world  hath  blinded  their 
minds,  lest  the  light  of  the  glorious  gospel  of  Christ,  who 
is  the  image  of  God,  should  shine  unto  them.” 

On  the  supposition  that  this  spot  is  Calvary,  the  only 
probable  reason  that  can  be  given  for  its  being  so  near 
the  city  itself  is,  that  “the  place  of  a  skull”  was  a  sort  of 
trench,  by  the  walls,  where  criminals  were  executed. 
But  the  longer  we  remained  in  the  Holy  City,  the  more 
we  were  convinced  that  this  is  not  the  true  site  of  CaF 
vary.  We  are  told  expressly  in  Scripture  that  “Jesus 
suffered  without  the  gate.”  *  And  also,  that  “  the  place 
where  he  was  crucified  was  nigh  to  the  city.”  f  But  the 
site  of  the  Church  of  the  Ploly  Sepulchre  is  a  long  way 
within  the  walls  of  Jerusalem.  We  cannot  believe  that 
the  ancient  city  was  narrower  or  smaller  in  any  way 
than  the  present  Jerusalem.  On  the  contrary,  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  it  was  much  more  extensive. 
From  the  church,  along  the  Via  Dolorosa,  to  the  western 
enclosure  of  the  Mosque  of  Omar,  is  but  a  five  minutes’ 
walk,  and  yet  this  must  have  been  the  whole  breadth  of 
the  city,  if  the  present  Calvary  was  without  the  gate. 
How  contrary  is  this  to  the  description  given  by  the 
Psalmist,  “Jerusalem  is  builded  as  a  city  that  is  compact 
together.”  \ 

On  the  whole  we  found  it  a  relief  to  our  minds  to  rest 
in  the  conclusion  that  the  cleft  rock  and  the  holy  sepul¬ 
chre  of  the  monks,  have  as  little  to  do  with  the  place 
where  Jesus  died,  and  the  rocky  tomb  in  the  garden 
where  they  laid  him,  as  the  polished  marbles  and  gaudy 
lamps  by  which  the  place  is  disfigured. § 

There  is  no  tradition  which  may  lead  the  mind  to  any 
other  spot  as  the  site  of  Calvary.  It  struck  us  forcibly 

*  Heb.  xiii.  12.  t  John  xix.  20.  t  Ps.  cxxii.  3. 

$  It  gave  us  unfeigned  pleasure  to  hear  from  Professor  Robinson, 
whom  we  afterwards  met  in  Berlin,  that  he  had  deliberately  arrived  at 
the  same  conclusion.  The  clear  and  able  statement  of  the  arguments 
against  the  present  site  of  Calvary  deduced  from  the  topography  and 
history  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  in  Professor  Robinson’s 
work  (vol.  ii.  p.  64,)  may  justly  be  regarded  as  a  final  settlement  of  this 
long  agitated  question. 


MOURNERS — MOUNT  MORIAH. 


141 


that  some  place  among  the  tombs  on  the  high  ground 
above  Gihon,  was  far  more  likely  to  have  been  the  real 
situation.  We  could  then  understand  how  “  Jesus  bear¬ 
ing  his  cross  went  forth  into  a  place  called  the  place  of  a 
skull,”  and  “  suffered  without  the  gate.”  There  would  be 
room  for  the  “  garden,”  and  the  new  sepulchre  of  Joseph 
might  well  be  hewn  out  of  its  rocks. — But  it  is  wisely  or¬ 
dered  that  a  cloud  of  oblivion  should  rest  over  the  spot 
where  Immanuel  died,  and  there  is  something  pleasing  to 
the  mind  in  reflecting,  that  the  turf  that  was  stained  with 
his  blood,  and  the  rocky  tomb  where  he  lay,  are  left  unpro¬ 
faned  by  the  followers  of  a  blind  and  wicked  superstition. 

This  afternoon  we  heard  again  the  wailing  of  mourn¬ 
ers  ;  some  Arab  had  died,  and  his  friends  were  lamenting 
him.  How  graphic  is  the  description  of  this  scene  given 
by  Solomon,  “  Man  goeth  to  his  long  home,  and  the 
mourners  go  about  the  streets.”  *  The  cry,  “  Allah, 
Allah,”  and  many  similar  exclamations,  were  mingled 
with  the  loud  wailing,  and  the  sound  of  instruments  of 
music  filled  up  the  measure  of  confusion.  We  remem¬ 
bered  the  faithful  description  of  this  given  in  the  gospel 
narrative,  “  when  Jesus  came  into  the  ruler’s  house,  and 
saw  the  minstrels  and  the  people  making  a  noise.”  f 

In  the  cool  of  the  day  we  enjoyed  a  delightful  ride  to 
the  Mount  of  Olives.  Mounted  on  hardy  Syrian  horses 
of  very  small  stature,  we  rode  out  at  the  Jaffa  Gate. 
Here  we  saw  the  reapers  busy  cutting  down  barley  in 
the  valley  of  Gihon.  Turning  to  the  right  we  went 
round  the  northern  wall  of  the  city.  The  road  is  rough 
and  in  some  parts  difficult.  Often  the  bare  rock  ap¬ 
pears,  and  the  way  was  covered  with  loose  stones.  It 
is  made  entirely  by  the  feet  of  the  animals  that  pass 
along  it ;  and  there  is  not  so  much  as  one  road  about 
Jerusalem  upon  which  a  wheeled  carriage  could  run. 
Coming  to  the  north-east  corner  of  the  walls,  the  valley 
of  Jehoshaphat  opened  to  our  view,  and  the  Mount  of 
Olives  across  the  valley  appeared  very  beautiful,  having 
much  more  variety  of  rocks,  gardens,  olive-yards,  fig- 
trees,  and  patches  of  grain  upon  its  sides,  than  we  had 
expected  to  find.  We  now  turned  due  south,  riding 
still  under  the  city  wall,  which  is  farther  from  the  brow 
of  the  hill  than  we  anticipated.  In  one  point  only,  namely 
the  S.  E.  corner,  does  the  wall  stand  on  the  immediate 
brink  of  the  valley,  in  other  parts  it  is  forty  or  fifty  yards 


*  Eccl.  xii.  5. 


14* 


t  Matt.  »x.  23. 


142 


JERUSALEM— MOUNT  OF  OLIVES. 


from  the  edge.  Before  reaching  St.  Stephen’s  Gate,  we 
came  upon  a  small  reservoir  half  full  of  water,  in  which 
an  Arab  was  bathing.  We  could  not  learn  its  name  or 
history.  Near  this  stands  the  monument  of  St.  Stephen, 
where  he  is  said  to  have  been  stoned,  and  the  gate  called 
by  his  name  is  said  to  be  that  out  of  which  they  hurried 
him  when  “  they  cast  him  out  of  the  city.”*  We  de¬ 
scended  the  steep  side  of  Mount  Moriah  by  the  footpath 
leading  from  St.  Stephen’s  Gate,  and  crossed  the  dry  bed 
of  theKedron  by  a  small  bridge.  The  path  here  widens 
out  to  a  considerable  breadth  for  about  fifty  yards,  and 
then  separates  into  two,  the  one  leading  directly  up  the 
face  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  the  other  winding  gently 
round  the  southern  brow  of  the  hill.  Both  of  these  foot¬ 
paths  lead  to  Bethany,  and  between  them  lies  a  square 
plot  of  ground  enclosed  with  a  rough  stone  wall,  and 
having  eight  very  large  old  olive-trees,  f  This  is  believed 
to  be  Gethsemane.  We  stayed  only  to  glance  at  it,  for 
it  needs  to  be  visited  in  quiet  and  stillness ;  and  choosing 
the  path  that  leads  straight  up  the  hill,  urged  our  little 
palfreys  up  the  steep  ascent.  Mount  Olivet  was  far  from 
being  a  solitude  this  evening.  One  turbaned  figure  after 
another  met  us,  and,  to  add  to  the  interest  of  the  scene, 
we  recognised  them  by  their  features  to  be  Jews.  At 
one  point  we  came  upon  a  small  company  of  Jewesses, 
not  veiled  like  the  Moslem  ladies,  but  all  dressed  in  their 
best  attire.  The  reason  of  this  unwonted  stir  among 
the  solitudes  of  Olivet  was,  that  Sir  Moses  Montefiore 
from  London,  who  had  come  on  a  visit  of  love  to  his 
brethren  in  the  Holy  Land,  had  arrived  at  Jerusalem, 
and  his  tent  was  now  pitched  on  one  of  the  eminences 
of  the  hill.  Multitudes  of  the  Jews  went  out  daily  to  lay 
their  petitions  before  him. 

We  often  halted  during  the  ascent,  and  turned  round 
to  view  the  city  lying  at  our  feet,  the  deep  valley  of 
Jehoshaphat,  and  the  surrounding  hills.  By  far  the 
finest  and  most  affecting  views  of  Jerusalem  are  to  be 
obtained  from  some  of  these  points.  In  a  little  after  we 
came  to  the  eminence  where  Sir  Moses  Montefiore  had 

*  Acts  vii.  58.  _  . 

t  Chateaubriand’s  argument  regarding  the  age  of  the  olive-trees  m 
Gethsemane  is  curious.  He  argues  that  they  must  be  at  least  as  old  as 
the  Eastern  Empire,  because  the  Turks,  at  the  conquest,  laid  a  tax  of 
one  medine  on  every  olive-tree  then  growing,  while  every  olive-tree 
planted  since  that  time  is  taxed  at  half  its  produce  Now,  he  states, 
that  the  eight  olive-trees  of  Gethsemane  were  charged  only  the  one 
medine  each. 


INTERVIEW  WITH  SIR  MOSES  MONTEFIORE. 


143 


pitched  his  tents.  He  had  fixed  a  cord  round  the  tents 
at  a  little  distance,  that  he  might  keep  himself  in  quaran¬ 
tine  On  the  outside  of  this,  a  crowd  of  about  twenty 
or  thirty  Jews  were  collected,  spreading  out  their  peti¬ 
tions  before  him.  Some  were  getting  money  for  them¬ 
selves,  some  for  their  friends,  some  for  the  purposes  of 
religion.  It  was  an  interesting  scene,  and  called  up  to 
our  minds  the  events  of  other  days,  when  Israel  were 
not  strangers  in  their  own  land.  Sir  Moses  and  his  lady 
received  us  with  great  kindness,  and  we  were  served 
with  cake  and  wine.  He  conversed  freely  on  the  state  of 
the  land,  the  miseries  of  the  Jews,  and  the  fulfilment  of 
prophecy.  He  said  that  the  Bible  was  the  best  guide¬ 
book  in  the  Holy  Land ;  and  with  much  feeling  remarked, 
that,  sitting  on  this  very  place,  within  sight  of  Mount 
Moriah,  he  had  read  Solomon’s  prayer*  over  and  over 
again.  He  told  us  that  he  had  been  at  Saphet  and  Ti¬ 
berias,  and  that  there  were  1500  Jews  in  the  latter  town, 
and  more  in  the  former ;  but  they  were  in  a  very 
wretched  condition,  for  first  they  had  been  robbed  by  the 
Arabs,  then  they  suffered  from  the  earthquake,  and  now 
they  were  plundered  by  the  Druses.  When  Dr.  Keith 
suggested  that  they  might  be  employed  in  making  roads 
through  the  land,  as  material's  were  abundant,  and  that 
it  might  be  the  beginning  of  the  fulfilment  of  the  pro¬ 
phecy,  “  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  people  ;  cast  up  the 
highway,  gather  out  the  stones  ;”f  Sir  Moses  acknowl¬ 
edged  the  benefit  that  would  attend  the  making  of  roads, 
but  feared  that  they  would  not  be  permitted.  He  seemed 
truly  interested  in  the  temporal  good  of  his  brethren,  and 
intent  upon  employing  their  young  people  in  the  cultiva¬ 
tion  of  the  vine,  the  olive,  and  the  mulberry.  We  ex¬ 
plained  to  him  the  object  of  our  visit  to  this  land,  and 
assured  him  that  the  Church  of  Scotland  would  rejoice 
in  any  amelioration  he  might  effect  in  the  temporal  con¬ 
dition  of  Israel. 

Taking  leave,  we  proceeded  to  the  summit];  through 
a  plantation  of  fig-trees.  From  this  the  view  on  all  sides 
is  splendid  and  interesting  in  the  extreme,  but  it  was  too 
near  sunset  to  allow  us  to  exhaust  it.  Looking  to  the 
north-west,  the  eye  falls  upon  Naby-Samuel,  believed  by 
most  travellers  to  be  Ramah  where  Samuel  was  born, 

*  1  Kinffs  viii.  J  Isa-  1X’J-  10. 

X  The  elevation  of  the  central  peak  of  the  Mount  of  Olives  above  the 
sea,  is  given  by  Schubert  at  2556  Paris  feet,  or  416  Paris  feet  above  the 
Valley  of  Jehoshaphat.  Hence  it  appears  to  be  175  Paris  feet  higher 
than  the  highest  point  of  Zion. — Robinson,  vol.  i-  p.  406. 


144  JERUSALEM— VIEW  FROM  MOUNT  OF  OLIVES. 

but  by  others  Mizpeh,  the  rallying  place  of  Israel.*  It 
seems  to  be  five  or  six  miles  distant,  and  forms  one  of 
the  highest  points  of  the  landscape,  crowned  with  a 
mosque  which  always  catches  the  eye  in  the  northern 
view.  To  the  east  and  south-east,  over  the  summits  of 
a  range  of  bare  and  rugged  mountains,  we  looked  down 
upon  the  Dead  Sea,  of  a  deep  blue  colour,  The  air  was 
so  clear,  and  every  thing  seen  so  distinctly,  that  our  first 
momentary  impression  was,  that  we  could  ride  down  to 
it  before  nightfall ;  though  in  reality  a  long  and  difficult 
day’s  journey  lay  between.  Beyond  it  the  range  of 
Abarim,  the  brown  barren  mountains  of  Moab,  rise  steep 
and  high,  and  bound  the  prospect.  Over  a  dark  rugged 
chain  of  hills  between  us  and  Jericho  we  could  distinctly 
trace  the  valley  of  the  Jordan  and  the  verdure  on  its 
banks,  but  the  river  itself  was  hid.  The  summits  of 
Abarim  present  to  the  eye  an  almost  even  line,  so  that 
we  could  fix  on  no  particular  peaks,  and  yet  some  one  of 
the  mountain  tops  we  were  gazing  on  must  be  Bethpeor, 
and  another  Pisgah,  the  top  of  Nebo ;  the  former  ever 
memorable  as  the  spot  where  Balaam  stood  when  he 
wished  to  die  the  death  of  the  righteous, f  and  the  latter 
as  the  spot  where  Moses  did  indeed  die  that  blessed 
death.];  The  sight  of  this  mountain  scene  reminded  us 
of  a  passage  in  Jeremiah,  the  force  of  which  is  lost  in  our 
version,  but  which  had  peculiar  meaning  when  uttered 
in  Jerusalem.  It  is  in  reference  to  the  death  of  Jehoiakim, 
the  son  of  pious  Josiah,  and  the  desolation  that  followed, 
“  Go  up  to  Lebanon,  and  cry ;  and  lift  up  thy  voice  in 
Bashan,  and  cry  from  Abarim ;  for  all  thy  lovers  are  de¬ 
stroyed.”  §  The  cry  of  wo  is  first  uttered  from  the 
heights  of  Lebanon,  the  northern  boundary  of  the  land ; 
it  is  echoed  back  from  Bashan,  the  eastern  range ;  and 
then  it  resounds  from  Abarim,  the  mountains  of  Moab, 
seen  so  distinctly  from  Jerusalem.  In  this  way  the  ti¬ 
dings  of  distress  are  carried  from  Lebanon  to  Bashan, 
from  Bashan  to  Abarim,  and  from  Abarim  to  the  Capital 
itself. 

Turning  to  the  west,  we  looked  down  upon  Jerusalem 
— its  mosques  and  domes,  fiat  roofs  and  cupolas,  being 
stretched  out  beneath  us.  We  could  now  see  the  accu¬ 
racy  of  the  description,  “  As  the  mountains  are  round 
about  Jerusalem,  so  the  Lord  is  round  about  his  peo¬ 
ple.”  ||  We  obtained  a  complete  view  of  Mount  Moriah, 

*  1  Sam.  vii.  5.  f  Num.  xxiii.  10.  t  Dent,  xxxiv.  1. 

§  Jer.  xxii.  20.  See  the  original.  II  Ps.  cxxv.  2. 


MOUNT  MORIAH — FULFILMENT  OF  PROPHECY.  145 

the  hill  nearest  us,  occupied  by  the  Haram  Sherif,  or 
“  noble  sanctuary,”  with  its  Mahometan  mosques.  Here 
probably  is  the  very  hill  where  Abraham’s  uplifted  hand 
was  arrested  when  about  to  slay  his  son  Isaac.*  Here 
the  cry  of  David  stayed  the  hand  of  the  destroying  an- 
gel.f  Here  Solomon  built  the  house  of  the  Lord,|  where 
God  dwelt  between  the  cherubim.  Here  the  lamb  was 
slain  every  morning  and  evening  for  many  generations, 
showing  forth  the  sacrifice  of  the  Lamb  of  God.  Here 
in  the  last  dajq  that  great  day  of  the  feast,  Jesus  stood 
and  cried. §  And  here  the  veil  of  the  temple  was  rent  in 
twain  from  the  top  to  the  bottom,  when  Jesus  yielded  up 
the  ghost, 1|  and  the  way  into  the  holiest  was  made  mani¬ 
fest.  But  now  the  word  of  God  is  fulfilled,  “  He  hath 
violently  taken  away  his  tabernacle,  as  if  it  were  of  a 
garden ;  he  hath  destroyed  his  places  of  assembly.”!! 
“  The  mountain  of  the  house  is  become  as  the  high  place 
of  the  forest.”**  The  mountain  on  which  God’s  house 
was  built  has  literally  become  a  place  of  heathen  sanc¬ 
tuaries,  like  those  which  in  Micah’s  day  were  erected  in 
groves  and  forests. 

The  present  wall  of  the  Haram  is  nearly  identical  with 
the  enclosure  of  Solomon’s  Temple  on  three  sides.  The 
Mosque  of  Omar  stands  in  the  centre,  and  probably  on 
the  spot  where  were  the  holy  place  and  holiest  of  all. 
On  the  south  stands  the  Mosque  El  Aksa,  and  there  are 
several  other  oratories  and  sacred  buildings  round  the 
walls.  The  rest  of  the  area  is  beautifully  laid  out  with 
cypress  and  orange  trees,  and  here  the  Moslem  ladies 
enjoy  themselves  on  their  holidays.  No  Christian  is  ordi¬ 
narily  permitted  to  enter  these  enclosures.  No  foot  but 
those  of  the  heathen,  “  the  worst  of  the  heathen, ”ff  is 
allowed  to  tread  the  court  of  God’s  holy  and  beautiful 
house,  so  that  “  their  holy  places  are  defiled.”  Surely 
the  mountain  of  the  house  has  become  literally  like  “  the 
high  places  of  the  forest.”  How  true  and  faithful  is  the 
word  of  the  Lord !  In  the  days  of  Hezekiah,  Micah  was 
sent  to  a  flourishing  city,  “the  perfection  of  beauty,  and 
the  joy  of  the  whole  earth.”  He  was  to  walk  about 
Zion,  and  when  he  looked  upon  its  towers  and  bulwarks, 
to  say,  “  All  these  shall  be  desolate,  and  the  ground  on 
which  they  stand  shall  b e ploughed  as  a  field.”  He  was 
to  pass  by  their  ceiled  houses  and  along  their  splendid 

*  Gen.  xxii.  2,  9.  t  1  Chron.  xxi.  17.  f  2  Chron.  iii,  1. 

$  John  vii.  37.  II  Matt,  xxvii.  50,  51.  11  Lam.  ii.  6. 

**  Mic.  iii.  12.  tf  Ezek.  vii.  24. 


146  JERUSALEM — INTERVIEW  WITH  A  COUNTRYMAN. 

streets,  and  to  cry,  “  All  these  shall  be  heaps:1  Last  of 
all,  he  was  to  stand  in  the  court  of  the  temple  in  which 
they  gloried,  where  God  indeed  dwelt  on  the  earth,  and 
to  say,  “It  shall  be  as  the  high  places  of  the  heathen.” 
And  now,  as  we  stood  on  Mount  Olivet,  our  eyes  beheld 
these  things  brought  to  pass.  This  is  the  doing  of  the 
Lord  !  “  Great  and  marvellous  are  thy  works,  Lord  God 
Almighty ;  just  and  true  are  thy  ways,  thou  King  of 
saints  !  Who  shall  not  fear  thee,  O  Lord,  and  glorify  thy 
name  I  for  thou  only  art  holy  ;  for  all  nations  shall  come 
and  worship  before  thee,  for  thy  judgments  are  made 
manifest.”* 

We  descended  into  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat  by  a  path 
further  to  the  south,  which  led  us  past  the  Jewish  bury- 
ing-ground,  and  onwards  to  the  monuments  of  Absalom 
and  Zacharias,  cut  out  of  the  solid  rock,  which  have  been 
often  described,  and  are  well  known.  It  occurred  to  us 
that  the  pillars,  pilasters,  and  other  ornaments,  may  have 
been  added  at  a  recent  date,  but  that  the  square  mass 
cut  out  of  the  rock  of  the  mountain  may  be  very  ancient. 
Again  we  crossed  the  Kedron,  and  by  a  slanting  path 
ascended  to  the  south-east  corner  of  the  Haram ;  then, 
passing  round  the  southern  wall  of  the  city,  entered  the 
Zion  Gate  a  little  before  the  gates  were  shut. 

We  spent  the  evening  at  the  house  of  our  kind  friend 
Mr.  Nicolayson.  Here  we  found  a  fellow-countryman, 
who  had  been  invited  to  meet  us.  He  lives  in  Jerusalem 
in  complete  retirement,  joins  no  church,  and  has  no  fel¬ 
lowship  with  Christians  of  any  denomination,  but  waits 
for  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man.  He  wears  the  long 
beard,  turban,  and  flowing  dress  of  the  Easterns.  He  is 
a  very  pious,  but  singular  man.  On  one  occasion  imagin¬ 
ing  that  Elijah,  “  the  watchman  of  Ephraim,”  would  soon 
be  on  the  mountains  of  Israel,  he  went  to  seek  him,  though 
he  knew  nothing  of  the  language  of  the  country.  He 
travelled  as  far  as  Sychar,  keeping  in  his  hand  an  Arabic 
list  of  vegetables,  and  other  articles  of  food,  so  that  by 
pointing  to  the  written  word,  he  was  able  to  make  him¬ 
self  understood.  On  another  occasion,  passing  by  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  the  monks  mistaking  him 
for  a  Jew,  rushed  out  upon  him,  and  pursued  him  through 
the  streets,  into  a  house  where  he  took  refuge,  threaten¬ 
ing  to  kill  him,  unless  he  kissed  a  picture  of  the  Virgin, 

*  Rev.  xv.  3,  4. 


JERUSALEM — -VISIT  TO  THE  CONSUL.  147 

in  a  New  Testament  which  they  held  out  to  him.  This 
he  did,  and  saved  his  life.  His  object  in  residing  here  is 
that  he  may  be  one  of  the  men  “  that  sigh  and  cry  for  all 
the  abominations  that  be  done  in  the  midst  of  Jerusa¬ 
lem.”*  He  is  waiting  also  to  hear  the  cry,  “Behold  the 
bridegroom  cometh,”  and  to  see  if  the  Lord  will  yet  em¬ 
ploy  him  in  any  work  for  his  ancient  people.  We  ob¬ 
tained  from  him  several  interesting  illustrations  of  Scrip¬ 
ture.  He  told  us. that  his  own  house  has  a  staircase  from 
the  flat  roof  down  into  the  street,  by  which  he  could  de¬ 
scend  and  escape  without  passing  through  the  house,  if 
danger  called  for  it.  This  explains  the  command  of  the 
Lord,  “  Let  him  that  is  on  the  house-top  not  go  down 
into  the  house,  neither  enter  therein  to  take  any  thing 
out  of  the  house.”f  In  reference  to  that  passage,  he  re¬ 
marked  that  he  could  fully  understand  it,  for  he  felt  him¬ 
self  to  be  in  the  position  of  the  disciples  in  the  days  be¬ 
fore  Jerusalem  was  destroyed.  He  remarked  also,  as 
we  had  done  previously,  the  manner  in  which  the  Arabs 
sing  and  clap  the  hands  at  the  same  time,  as  illustrating 
several  passages  of  Scripture.;);  We  spent  a  pleasant 
evening  thus  conversing  on  the  word  of  God  within  the 
gates  of  Jerusalem. 

(June  11.)  We  had  agreed  to  visit  the  Consul,  Mr. 
Young,  this  forenoon,  to  receive  information  from  him 
regarding  the  Jews.  On  going  to  him,  he  told  us  that  a 
remarkable  circumstance  had  occurred  that  morning. 
The  Turkish  Governor  of  Jerusalem  had  allowed  Sir 
Moses  Montefiore  and  his  attendants  to  enter  the  tomb 
of  David  upon  Mount  Zion,  and  to  pray  over  it,  a  privi¬ 
lege  not  granted  to  a  Jew  for  many  centuries.  The  Go¬ 
vernor  had  called  on  Sir  Moses  the  day  before,  and 
shown  him  great  respect,  and  that  morning  had  sent  him 
a  present  of  five  sheep.  The  ground  of  the  Governor’s 
respectful  treatment  of  him  was  the  fact  of  his  being  a 
native  of  Great  Britain.  Mr.  Nicolayson  was  fortunate 
enough  to  be  with  Sir  Moses  at  the  time,  and  so  obtained 
admittance  also,  and  heard  the  Jews  recite  a  long  form 
of  prayer,  and  read  many  of  the  Psalms,  such  as  the  xv, 
cxxii,  cxxvi,  over  the  tomb  of  the  Sweet  Singer  of  Israel. 
He  described  it  as  a  solemn  and  affecting  scene. 

Mr.  Young  gave  the  following  statistics  of  the  Jews 
in  the  Holy  Land ;  and  having  afterwards  taken  down 
Mr.  Nicolayson’s  information  on  the  same  subject,  we 
insert  both  together  for  the  sake  of  comparison. 

*  Ezek.  ix.  4.  t  Mark  xiii.  15.  t  Ps.  xlvii.  1.  Isa.  lv.  12. 


148 


JERUSALEM— JEWS  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND. 


Mr.  Young. 

Mr.  Nicola yson 

Jerusalem,  ... 

5000  or  6000 

6000  or  7000 

Nablous,  - 

150 

200 

200 

Hebron,  - 

700 

800 

700 

800 

Tiberias,  - 

600 

700 

1200 

Saphet,  ... 

1500 

2000 

Kaipha,  ... 

150 

200 

150 

200 

Sidon,  -  -  - 

250 

300 

300 

Tyre,  - 

130 

150 

150 

Jaffa,  ... 

- 

60 

60 

Acre,  .... 

200 

200 

Villages  of  Galilee, 

-  400 

580 

400 

500 

On  the  whole,  Mr.  Young  reckoned  that  there  are  in 
round  numbers  about  10,000  Jews  in  the  whole  of  Pales¬ 
tine.  The  difficulties,  however,  in  the  way  of  procuring 
accurate  statistics  are  very  great.  The  Jews  are  unwil¬ 
ling  to  give  their  true  numbers,  and  they  are  reduced 
from  time  to  time  by  the  ravages  of  the  plague.  Add  to 
this,  that  few  young  men  come  to  the  land;  so  that  it  is 
not  reckoning  accurately  to  take  the  usual  average  of 
individuals  in  a  family.  People  who  come  here  are  gen¬ 
erally  elderly,  and  do  not  leave  families  behind  them  to 
increase  the  population  or  supply  its  vacancies.  There 
is,  without  doubt,  a  constant  influx  of  Jews  into  this 
country,  yet  not  so  great  as  to  do  more  than  supply  the 
annual  deaths.  Their  poverty  is  great.  The  contribu¬ 
tions  from  Europe  of  late  have  been  smaller  than  usual ; 
and  when  they  arrive,  instead  of  doing  good,  are  the 
occasion  of  heart-burnings  and  strife.  There  is  no  such 
thing  as  “  brethren  dwelling  together  in  unity”*  in  Jeru¬ 
salem;  no  Jew  trusts  his  brother.f  They  are  always 
quarrelling,  and  frequently  apply  to  the  Consul  to  settle 
their  disputes.  The  expectation  of  support  from  the  an¬ 
nual  European  contributions  leads  many  to  live  in  idle¬ 
ness.  Hence  there  are  in  Jerusalem  500  acknowledged 
paupers,  and  500  more  who  receive  charity  in  a  quiet 
way.  Many  are  so  poor  that,  if  not  relieved,  they  could 
not  stand  out  the  winter  season.  A  few  are  shopkeepers ; 
a  few  more  are  hawkers ;  and  a  very  few  are  operatives. 
None  of  them  are  agriculturists — not  a  single  Jew  culti¬ 
vates  the  soil  of  his  fathers.  Among  other  peculiar  causes 
of  poverty,  they  are  obliged  to  pay  more  rent  than  other 
people  for  their  houses ;  and  their  rabbis^  frequently  op¬ 
press  and  overreach  those  under  their  care.  Whilst 
Mahomet  Ali  was  in  possession  of  this  country,  the 
government  had  been  far  more  tolerant  toward  them 

*  Ps.  cxxxiii.  1.  t  Is  this  a  fulfilment  of  Micah  vii.  2 — 6. 

t  This  is  a  fulfilment  of  Ezek.  xxxiv.  2,  3,  continued  down  to  this  day. 


JERUSALEM — JEWS —BRITISH  CONSUL. 


i49 


than  before;  and  on  two  recent  occasions,  the  Consul 
had  got  sentence  pronounced  in  favour  of  the  Jew  against 
the  Turk,  a  new  event  in  the  history  of  this  people!  Still 
the  common  people  hate  them,  and  they  are  exposed  to 
continual  wrongs.  The  soldiers  occasionally  break  into 
their  houses  and  compel  them  to  lend  articles  which  are 
never  restored. 

The  professing  Christians  here — Greeks,  Armenians, 
and  Roman  Catholics — are  even  more  bitter  enemies  to 
Jews  than  Mahometans ;  so  that  in  time  of  danger,  a 
Jew  would  betake  himself  to  the  house  of  a  Turk  for  re¬ 
fuge,  in  preference  to  that  of  a  Christian.  How  little 
have  these  Christians  the  mind  of  Christ!  Instead  of 
His  peculiarly  tender  love  for  Israel,  they  exhibit  rooted 
hatred,  and  thus  prove  that  they  are  Anti-christ.  So  far 
do  they  carry  their  enmity,  that  no  Jew  dare  at  this  day 
pass  by  the  door  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  On  this  ac¬ 
count,  the  kindness  of  Protestants  appears  to  them  very 
striking;  and  convinces  them  that  there  is  a  real  differ¬ 
ence  in  the  religion  we  profess.  And  they  are  now  be¬ 
coming  strongly  attached  to  British  Christians.  The 
fact  of  a  British  Consul  being  stationed  here  on  their  ac¬ 
count  has  greatly  contributed  to  this  effect.  How  won¬ 
derful  that  a  British  Consul  should  be  sent  to  the  Holy 
Land,  with  special  instructions  to  interest  himself  in  be¬ 
half  of  the  Jews,  and  having  for  his  district  the  very  re¬ 
gion  formerly  allotted  to  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel !  And 
how  much  more  wonderful  still,  that  our  first  Consul  in 
Jerusalem  should  be  one  actuated  by  a  deep  and  enlight¬ 
ened  attachment  to  the  cause  of  God’s  ancient  people ! 
At  present,  however,  the  Jews  make  less  use  of  his  influ¬ 
ence  than  they  might  do  ;  for  they  say,  “  if  the  Consul 
were  to  go  away,  revenge  would  be  taken  on  us.”  This 
is  so  much  their  feeling,  that  when  it  was  lately  reported, 
that  he  was  to  be  removed  on  account  of  the  war  that 
threatened,  many  Jews  came  to  him,  with  tears  running 
down  their  cheeks,  entreating  him  to  remain.  There  is 
also  another  singular  fact,  namely,  that  converted  Jews 
have  complete  access  to  their  brethren.  Five  converts 
are  here  at  present,  and  the  Jews  treat  them  with  kind¬ 
ness,  allow  them  to  visit  their  houses,  and  frequently 
visit  them  in  return.  Oh,  that  the  day  were  come  when 
“  the  fountain  shall  be  opened  to  the  house  of  David  and 
to  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  for  sin  and  for  unclean¬ 
ness  !”  * 

*  Zech.  xiii.  1. 

15 


150  JERUSALEM — G1HON — HILL  OF  EVIL  COUNSEL. 

In  the  afternoon  we  mounted  our  hardy  little  palfreys, 
and  with  Mr.  Nicolayson  for  our  guide,  set  out  to  visit 
some  of  the  interesting  spots  around  the  city.  Going 
out  by  the  Jaffa  Gate,  we  turned  to  the  south,  and  crossed 
by  the  wall  of  the  lower  pool  of  Gihon — that  being  the 
usual  way  to  Bethlehem.  The  name  of  Hinnom  is  very 
generally  given  to  this  western  valley,  as  well  as  to  the 
south  of  Zion ;  but  if  the  two  pools  be  really  the  pools  of 
Gihon,  it  seems  much  more  probable,  that  the  valley  on 
the  west  of  the  city  is  the  vale  of  Gihon,  while  that  on 
the  south  is  the  vale  of  Hinnom.*  Crossing  Solomon’s 
aqueduct,  which  we  could  trace  far  on  its  way  to  Bethle¬ 
hem,  we  turned  to  the  south-east,  and  climbed  the  hill 
immediately  south  of  Mount  Zion,  parted  from  it  by  the 
deep  vale  of  Hinnom.  This  ridge  is  named  the  Hill 
of  Evil  Counsel,  because  upon  the  summit  a  ruin  is 
pointed  out,  which  is  called  by  the  monks  the  country- 
house  of  Caiaphas,  where  the  priests,  scribes,  and  elders 
met  and  took  counsel  how  they  might  kill  Jesus.  From 
this  we  had  another  pleasant  view  of  the  plain  of  Rep- 
haim,f  lying  to  the  south-west.  The  reapers  were  gather¬ 
ing  the  ears  of  corn  at  the  very  time.  The  most  promi¬ 
nent  object  to  the  south  is  a  graceful  conical  hill,  called 


the  Frank  Mountain,  and  supposed  by  some  to  be  Beth- 
haccerem,  a  suitable  spot  for  “  setting  up  a  sign  of  fire.”| 
To  the  north,  we  looked  across  the  valley  of  Hinnom 
to  Mount  Zion,  descending  bold  and  steep  into  the  ra¬ 
vine.  Several  parts  were  ploughed  like  a  field  as  already 
mentioned,  and  on  one  part  sheaves  were  standing.  To 
the  north-east,  beyond  the  high  wall  of  the  mosque  on 
Mount  Moriah,  we  obtained  the  finest  view  we  had  yet 
seen  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  with  its  three  graceful  sum¬ 
mits.  The  depth  of  the  Valley  of  Je’noshaphat  (vale  of 
Kedron)  struck  us  very  forcibly,  and  gave  an  appear¬ 
ance  of  great  loftiness  to  Mount  Olivet.  To  the  east, 

*  Josh.  xv.  8.  It  formed  the  northern  boundary  of  the  tribe  of  Judah , 
and  hence  Nehem.  xi.  30,  speaks  of  those  who  “ dwelt  from  Beer-shela 
unto  the  valley  of  Hinnom" — the  two  extremities  of  Judah, 
t  Isa  xvii.  5.  t  Jer.  vi.  1 


VALLEY  OF  HINNOM — “FIELD  OF  BLOOD.”  151 

we  looked  down  the  valley  of  the  Kedron,  towaid  the 
Dead  Sea,  with  the  mountains  of  Moab  beyond. 

As  we  looked  over  the  precipitous  brow  of  the  hill 
into  the  Valley  of  Hinnom,  which  is  very  deep,  and 
shaded  by  trees  hanging  over  its  sides,  we  thought  how, 
in  other  days,  the  cries  of  the  human  victims  sacrificed  to 
Moloch  must  have  risen  from  this  valley,  now  so  still  and 
peaceful,  to  the  palaces  of  Mount  Zion— or  perhaps  only 
the  sound  of  drums  and  other  instruments  drowning  the 
cries  of  agony,  that  they  might  not  disturb  the  mirth  of 
the  king.  What  must  Manasseh  have  felt  after  his  con¬ 
version,  when  he  walked  along  the  brow  of  this  hill,  and 
looked  down  into  the  valley  below,  or  when  he  saw  it 
from  the  towers  of  Zion  1  Surely  the  remembrance  of 
his  groves  and  idols,  with  their  attendant  horrors,  and 
above  all,  the  thought  of  his  own  murdered  infants,  must 
have  led  him  the  more  earnestly  to  that  blood  that  clean- 
seth  from  all  sin.  From  Hinnom  he  would  lift  his  weep¬ 
ing  eyes  to  Moriah’s  hill ;  and  gazing  on  its  altar,  even 
he  might,  in  the  strength  of  a  Saviour’s  atonement,  say, 
“  Who  is  he  that  condemneth  1” 

Descending  gradually  toward  the  eastern  side  of  the 
ridge,  we  came  to  the  spot  pointed  out  as  Aceldama,  “  the 
field  of  blood,”  the  field  bought  with  the  thirty  pieces  of 
silver,  and  “  known  to  all  the  dwellers  at  Jerusalem.”  * 
It  lies  opposite  the  south-east  corner  of  Mount  Zion.  A 
charnel-house  or  square  chamber  sunk  in  the  earth  is  still 
shewn  here,  and  some  of  the  cells  have  been  lately 
opened ;  but  we  found  no  traces  of  that  peculiar  kind  of 
earth  said  to  have  been  found  here,  which  had  the  pro¬ 
perty  of  causing  dead  bodies  to  decay  within  four-and- 
twenty-hours.f  A  particular  tree  is  pointed  out  as  the 
tree  on  which  Judas  hanged  himself,  a  mere  tradition,  or 
rather  a  barefaced  invention,  but  interesting  as  shewing 
that  to  this  day  the  awful  doom  of  the  Son  of  Perdition 
is  not  forgotten  by  the  dwellers  of  Jerusalem.  At  this 
point  is  obtained  a  remarkable  view  of  the  Valley  of  Je- 
hoshaphat.  It  is  wide  and  ample,  in  some  parts  terraced, 
and  a  small  portion  of  it  planted  with  gardens,  which  are 

.  *  Matt,  xxvii.  7,  8.  Acts  i.  19. 

t  A  recent  traveller,  W.  R.  Wilde,  a  medical  gentleman,  visited  a 
sepulchre  lately  opened  here,  when  he  found  the  skulls  to  belong,  not  to 
Jews,  but  to  individuals  of  different  nations.  He  gives  this  fact  on  per¬ 
sonal  examination,  as  affording  proof  that  this  is  “  the  field  to  bury 
strangers  in.”  The  only  abatement  of  this  interesting  evidence,  is  the 
possibility  of  these  having  been  buried  in  it  at  a  period  later  than  the 
Jewish  kingdom  existed. 


152 


JERUSALEM — VALLEY  OF  JEHOSHAPHAT. 


watered  from  the  Pool  of  Siloam.  The  village  of  Siloam 
hangs  over  it  on  the  right,  and  Ophel  and  Mount  Zion 
slope  down  into  it  on  the  left.  Its  bosom  is  extensive 
enough  to  contain  immense  multitudes,  such  as  Joel  de¬ 
scribes,  “  Let  the  heathen  be  awakened  and  come  up  to 
the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat  ” — “  multitudes,  multitudes  in 
the  valley  of  decision.”  *  The  scenery  of  this  spacious 
valley  was  no  doubt  before  the  prophet’s  eye  as  he  ut¬ 
tered  the  prediction.  Every  height  and  hollow  appeared 
before  him  thronged  with  armed  multitudes,  till  he  was 
made  to  realize  the  greatness  of  that  last  dread  conflict, 
when  from  the  neighbouring  hill  and  city,  the  Lord’s 
voice  shall  be  heard,  confounding  his  people’s  enemies ; 
— “the  Lord  shall  roar  out  of  Zion,  and  utter  his  voice 
from  Jerusalem.”! 

From  this  point,  also,  is  seen  the  gentle  hollow  that 
marks  the  separation  between  Zion  and  Moriah.  At 
other  points,  it  seems  as  if  the  one  hill  overlapped  the 
other  ;  but  here  it  is  quite  easy  to  trace  the  line  of  sepa¬ 
ration.  This  hollow  is  the  Tyropceon  of  Josephus,  or 
Valley  of  the  Cheesemongers,  beginning  near  the  Jaffa 
Gate,  and  running  east  to  the  wall  of  the  Mosque,  and 
then  south  till  it  opens  out  into  the  Valley  of  Jehosha¬ 
phat.  It  was  no  doubt  much  deeper  and  more  distinct 
in  ancient  days.  The  debris  of  the  ruins  of  many  gen¬ 
erations  have  been  long  filling  it  up.  Between  the  Tyro- 
pmon  and  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  outside  the  walls 
of  the  city,  stood  the  tower  called  in  Scripture,  Ophel. 
The  ridge  ends  there  in  a  precipice  of  solid  limestone 
rock,  overhanging  the  Pool  of  Siloam,  to  the  height  of 
about  sixty  feet.  Due  east  from  the  Mount  of  Evil 
Counsel,  on  the  other  side  of  the  valley,  rises  the  hill 
called  the  Mount  of  Offence,  or  Mount  of  Corruption,  on 
which,  it  is  believed,  Solomon  set  up  idols  to  his  strange 
gods.  It  is  just  a  lower  ridge  of  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
barren  and  rocky.  We  thought  we  could  trace  indica¬ 
tions  of  former  buildings  on  the  face  of  the  hill,  near  the 
top. 

Winding  down  the  hill,  we  reached  the  lowest  part 
of  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  a  retired  spot,  pleasantly 
shaded  with  fruit-trees.  Here  is  Nehemiah’s  Well,  or 
rather,  there  is  little  doubt,  the  ancient  En-Rogel,  “  the 
fuller’s  fountain.”  There  are  the  remains  of  ancient  build¬ 
ings  over  it,  and  a  large  tank  beside  it.  It  is  125  feet  in 
depth.  Formerly,  the  water  seems  to  have  been  drawn 

t  Joel  iii.  16. 


*  Joel  iii.  12,  14. 


NEHEMIAH’S  WELL — WELL  OF  JOAB. 


153 


up  by  a  Persian  wheel,  such  as  we  saw  at  El  Arish  and 
many  other  places,  but  now  an  old  Arab  let  down  a 
skin  vessel  and  gave  us  drink.  The  water  was  delight¬ 
ful.  By  this  well  in  ancient  times  was  drawn  the  border 
between  Judah  and  Benjamin,  for  it  is  said  with  minute 
accuracy,  that  “the  border  came  down  (from  the  Valley 
of  Rephaim)  to  the  end  of  the  mountain,  and  descended 
to  the  Valley  of  Hinnom,  and  descended  to  En-Rogel.”  * 
In  this  spot,  so  near  the  city,  and  yet  so  completely  se¬ 
cluded,  the  two  youths  Jonathan  and  Ahimaaz  tarried 
when  Absalom  took  possession  of  Jerusalem,  that  they 
might  carry  tidings  to  David.j  Among  these  pleasant 
fruit-trees  also  was  “  the  stone  of  Zoheleth,  which  is  by 
En-Rogel,”  where  Adonijah  made  a  feast,  at  the  time  he 
aspired  to  the  throne,  when  their  mirth  was  so  suddenly 
arrested  by  the  shouts  of  joy  in  the  city  proclaiming  Solo¬ 
mon  to  be  king.  j:  Perhaps  it  may  be  from  the  prominent 
part  which  Joab  acted  in  that  memorable  scene  that  the 
well  is  called  by  the  Arabs  to  this  day  Beer-Eyub,  “  the 
well  of  Job,”  or  Joab. 

Proceeding  up  the  valley,  we  passed  through  a  smak 
grove  of  olives,  pomegranates,  and  figs.  A  girl  came 
running  to  us  with  her  lap  full  of  ripe  apricots.  Her 
head  was  ornamented  with  a  circle  of  silver  coins.  Here 
we  found  people  busily  employed,  some  treading  out 
corn  by  the  feet  of  the  ox  and  the  ass,  others  winnowing 
what  had  been  trodden  out  already.  This  peaceful  scene 
in  so  retired  a  valley,  near  a  refreshing  well,  served  to 
explain  the  prophet’s  manner  of  reproving  the  indolence 
of  backsliding  Israel,  “Ephraim  is  an  heifer  that  is 
taught,  and  loveth  to  tread  out  the  corn.”§  The  win¬ 
nowing  with  the  shovel,  recalled  to  our  minds  the  “  clean 
provender  which  hath  been  winnowed  with  the  shovel 
and  the  fan.”  || 

We  passed  the  mouth  of  the  Vale  of  Hinnom,  and 
approaching  the  rock  of  Ophel  above  described,  came  to 
an  old  mulberry-tree,  whose  roots  are  now  supported 
by  a  terrace  of  rough  stones,  said  to  mark  the  place 
where  Manasseh  caused  the  prophet  Isaiah  to  be  sawn 
asunder. IT  Three  Arabs  were  reclining  under  its  plen¬ 
tiful  shade,  and  seemed  to  wonder  why  we  gazed. 

Passing  under  the  rocky  face  of  Ophel,  we  came  to  the 
Pool  of  Siloam.  We  were  surprised  to  find  it  so  entire, 

*  josh,  xviii.  16.  t  2  Sam.  xvii.  17.  1  1  Kings  i.  9,  41 

$  IIos.  x.  11.  II  Isa.  xxx.  24.  H  Heb.  xi.  37. 

15* 


154 


JERUSALEM — POOL  OF  SILOAM. 


exactly  resembling  the  common  prints  of  it.  It  is  in  the 
form  of  a  parallelogram,  and  the  walls  all  round  are  of 
hewn  stones.  The  steps  that  lead  down  into  it,  at  the 
eastern  end,  are  no  doubt  the  same  which  have  been 
there  for  ages.  The  water  covered  the  bottom  to  the 
depth  of  one  or  two  feet.  At  the  western  end,  climbing 
a  little  way  into  a  cave  hewn  out  of  a  rock,  we  descend¬ 
ed  a  few  steps  into  the  place  from  which  the  water  flows 
into  the  pool.  It  is  connected  by  a  long  subterranean 
passage,  running  quite  through  the  hill  to  the  Fountain 
of  the  Virgin,  or  more  properly  the  Fountain  of  Siloam, 
the  entrance  to  which  is  a  considerable  way  farther  up 
the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat.  Through  this  passage  the 
water  flows  softly  from  the  fountain  till  it  finds  its  way 
into  the  pool,  not  as  generally  represented  in  pictures  by 
pouring  over  the  mouth  of  the  cave,  but  secretly  from 
beneath.  Wild  flowers,  and  among  other  plants  the 
caper-tree,  grow  luxuriantly  around  its  border. 

We  are  told  that  “  the  wall  of  the  Pool  of  Siloah,  by 
the  kin s  garden,”  *  was  rebuilt  in  the  days  of  Nehe- 
miah.  "There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  is  the  very  spot ; 
and  possibly  the  present  walls  and  steps  may  be  as  an¬ 
cient  as  the  days  of  our  Lord.  While  sitting  on  the 
margin,  we  could  imagine  the  history  of  the  blind  manf 
realized  before  us.  We  had  seen  that  very  day  a  blind 
man  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem  as  we  passed  by.  Now 
it  was  to  such  a  man  that  our  Lord  said,  “  Go,  wash  in 
the  Pool  of  Siloam.”  The  man  obeys— comes  out  at  the 
gate— descends  the  sloping  side  of  Zion,  gropes  his  way 
down  these  steps,  and  feels  for  the  cool  water  with  his 
hand ;  then  laves  his  clay-anointed  eyes,  and  they  open  ! 
Now  he  sees  the  glory  of  Jerusalem,  but  above  all,  comes 
back  to  see  the  face  of  the  Son  of  God,  tue  light  of  the 
world,  whose  word  commanded  the  light  to  shine  on  his 
dark  eye-balls  and  his  darker  heart.  The  water  of  this 
pool  flows  out  through  a  small  channel  cut  or  worn  in 
the  rock,  and  descends  to  refresh  the  gardens  which  are 
planted  below  on  terraces,  illustrating  the  expression  “  a 
fountain  of  gardens,”  \  for  a  fountain  in  such  a  situation 
waters  many  gardens.  These  are  the  remains  of  “  the 
king’s  garden,” §  mentioned  by  Nehemiah  and  by  Jose¬ 
phus.  || 

Leaving  the  pool,  we  turned  northward,  proceeding  up 

*  Neh  iii.  15.  t  John  ix.  X  Song  iv.  15. 

$  Neh.  iii.  15.  II  Ant.  vii.  c  14,  $  4. 


FOUNTAIN-HEAD  OF  SiLOAM. 


155 


the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat  with  the  village  of  Siloam  on 
our  right,  which  literally  hangs  upon  the  steep  brow  of 
tile  Mount  of  Offence.  Three  or  four  hundred  yards  up 
the  valley,  we  came  to  the  spring  or  fountain-head  of 
Siloam,  beneath  the  rocky  side  of  Moriah.  It  is  com¬ 
monly  called  the  Fountain  of  the  Virgin,  from  a  foolish 
tradition  of  the  monks.  We  came  to  a  wide  cavern 
partly  or  entirely  hewn  out  by  the  hands  of  man ;  and 
descending  two  flights  of  steps  cut  in  the  rock,  worn 
smooth  and  white  tike  marble,  we  came  to  the  water. 
From  this  point  it  flows  through  the  subterranean  canal 
already  mentioned,  and  supplies  the  Pool  of  Siloam.  But 
it  flows  in  such  perfect  stillness,  that  it  seemed  to  us  to 
be  a  standing  pool,  until  we  put  our  hands  into  it,  and 
felt  the  gentle  current  pressing  them  aside.  Nothing 
could  be  more  descriptive  of  the  flow  of  these  waters 
than  the  words  of  Isaiah,  “  The  waters  of  Siloah  that  go 
softly.”*  The  calm  silent  stream  of  grace  and  power 
which  flows  from  under  the  throne  of  a  reconciled  God. 
is,  by  this  simple  figure,  finely  contrasted  with  the  loud 
noisy  promises  of  Rezin  and  Remaliah’s  son.  The  be¬ 
lieving  soul  has  a  secret  and  unfailing  spring  of  quiet 
joy  ever  flowing  from  “  the  holy  place  of  the  tabernacles 
of  the  Most  High,”  which  forms  a  complete  contrast  to 
the  rude  and  boisterous  mirth  of  the  ungodly.  We  drank 
with  joy  of  the  cool  water,  which  we  found  sweet  and 
pleasant,  all  the  sweeter  because  of  the  sacred  recollec¬ 
tions  with  which  it  was  associated.  It  seemed  to  be  a 
much  frequented  spring :  for  some  came  to  drink,  some 
to  draw-  water  to  wash  their  clothes,  and  others  were 
conveying  it  to  their  camels. 

It  has  been  suggested  with  much  probability,  that  this 
fountain  may  have  an  artificial  connection  with  another 
fountain  said  to  be  under  the  Mosque  of  Omar  in  the 
heart  of  Moriah  ;  for  the  flow  of  water  seems  too  large 
and  too  calm  to  be  the  commencement  of  a  spring  in  a 
limestone  rock.  But  there  does  not  appear  to  be  any 
solid  foundation  for  the  conjecture  of  Dr.  Robinson,  that 
this  may  be  the  pool  of  Bethesda.  It  bears  no  resem¬ 
blance  to  any  of  the  other  pools  around  the  city ;  nor 
can  we  see  where  the  five  porches  could  have  stood,  for 
it  is  a  cavern  five-and-twenty  feet  deep  in  the  solid  rock. 
And  most  certainly  the  irregular  flow  sometimes  ob¬ 
served  in  the  fountain,  cannot  have  any  thing  to  do  with 

*  Isa.  viii.  6.  3'D?nn  “  that  go  so  as  to  be  unperceived,  or 
escape  observation.” 


156 


JERUSALEM — FOUNTAIN  OF  SlLOAM. 


the  troubling  of  the  water  of  Bethesda,  for  we  are  ex¬ 
pressly  told,  that  “an  angel  went  down  at  a  certain 
season  into  the  pool  and  troubled  the  water.”  *  That 
was  a  miraculous  event,  plainly  intended  to  typify  the 
Lord  Jesus,  the  true  “  house  of  mercy;”  for  it  is  worthy 
of  remark,  that  this  was  the  only  occasion  in  which 
Jesus  healed  only  one  out  of  a  multitude  of  sick  folk.  He 
wished  to  show  that  he  was  the  true  pool  of  Bethesda, 
On  every  other  occasion  “  he  healed  them  all.”  Probably 
this  fountain  bore  the  same  name  as  the  Pool  of  Siloam, 
with  which  it  is  so  strongly  connected,  and  is  to  be  re¬ 
garded  as 

- Siloah’s  brook  that  flowed 

Fast  by  the  oracle  of  God. 

It  was  with  a  full  remembrance  of  this  day’s  pleasant 
visit  to  the  Fountain  of  Siloam,  that  the  following  lines 
occurred  at  an  after  period,  when  stretched  in  our  tent 
Under  the  brow  of  Carmel. 

Beneath  Moriah’s  rocky  side 
A  gentle  fountain  springs, 

Silent  and  soft  its  waters  glide, 

Like  the  peace  the  Spirit  brings. 

The  thirsty  Arab  stoops  to  drink 
Of  the  cool  and  quiet  wave ; 

And  the  thirsty  spirit  stops  to  think 
Of  Him  who  came  to  save. 

Siloam  is  the  fountain’s  name ; 

It  means  “  one  sent  from  God 

And  thus  the  holy  Saviour’s  fame 
It  gently  spreads  abroad. 

O  grant  that  I  like  this  sweet  well, 

May  Jesus’  image  bear; 

And  spend  my  life — my  all — to  tell 
How  full  his  mercies  are. 

We  now  passed  further  up  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat, 
and  observed  with  interest  on  the  sides  of  the  Mount  of 
Olives,  immediately  opposite  where  the  Temple  stood, 
the  Jewish  burying-ground.  Innumerable  white  flat 
stones  overspread  the  valley,  with  short  Hebrew  inscrip¬ 
tions,  generally  very  simple  and  uninteresting.  It  is  here 
that  the  old  Jews  desire  to  be  buried,  that  they  may 
reach  bliss  without  needing  to  make  their  way  under¬ 
ground  to  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  as  others  require 
to  do  who  die  elsewhere.  They  expect  to  arise  from 
these  tombs  at  the  resurrection,  and  see  Messiah  among 
the  first.  How  awful  their  disappointment  when  they 
find  that  they  die  only  to  pass  forthwith  into  consuming 

*  John  v.  4. 


VIEW  OF  JERUSALEM  FROM  OLIVET. 


157 


terrors,  and  that  they  arise  only  to  the  resurrection  of 
damnation !  Disappointed  hope  will  aggravate  the  wo 
of  a  poor  lost  man  of  Israel, — he  thought  he  was  at  the 
gate  of  heaven,  and  finds  himself  in  the  porch  of  hell ! 
Here  we  crossed  the  Kedron,  and  examined  minutely 
the  supposed  tombs  of  Zechariah,  James  the  Just,  Je- 
hoshaphat,  and  the  monument  called  Absalom’s  Pillar, 
mentioned  above.  This  last  may  possibly  occupy  the 
site  of  “  the  pillar  which  Absalom  reared  up  for  himself 
in  the  king’s  dale,  and  called  after  his  own  name,  Absa¬ 
lom’s  Place.”*  The  Jews  believe  it  to  be  so,  and  cast 
many  a  stone  at  it  in  abhorrence  as  they  pass.  The 
original  pillar  seems  to  have  been  a  square  mass  hewn 
out  of  the  solid  rock,  about  sixteen  feet  high.  The  col¬ 
umns,  pilasters,  and  triglyphs  which  now  adorn  it,  are 
evidently  not  Jewish  work,  and  may  be  of  much  later 
origin. 

We  left  the  valley,  and  ascended  the  southern  limb  of 
the  Mount  of  Olives  by  the  Jericho  road.  We  wished 
to  view  Jerusalem  from  the  spot  where  the  Saviour  is 
supposed  to  have  stood  when  he  “  was  come  near,  and 
beheld  the  city  and  wept  over  it.”f  Mr.  Nicolayson 
guided  us  to  the  place.  The  road  to  Jericho  crosses  the 
shoulder  of  the  hill,  so  that  when  a  traveller  is  approach¬ 
ing  Jerusalem,  the  city  is  brought  into  full  view  all  at 
once  by  a  turn  of  the  road.  The  scene  is  truly  magnifi¬ 
cent  :  the  air  is  so  clear  and  the  view  so  comprehensive. 
The  city  lies,  not  under  your  feet,  but  almost  on  a  level 
with  you.  You  look  across  the  valley  to  the  temple  ris¬ 
ing  full  before  you,  and  think  that  you  could  count  every 
tower,  every  street,  and  every  dwelling.  Jesus  saw  all  this 
before  him,  and  its  guilty  people  were  themselves  as  fully 
open  to  his  view  in  that  wonderful  moment,  when  his  tears 
testified  his  unutterable  love  to  Israel,  and  his  words  de¬ 
clared  their  fearful  doom.  Oh,  that  we  could  stand  and 
look  on  Israel  now,  with  our  Master’s  love  and  bowels 
of  compassion !  We  stood  awhile  to  realize  that  myste 
riously  interesting  moment,  and  then  rode  on  towards 
Bethany.  The  road  slopes  gently  down  the  other  side 
of  the  hill,  and  you  are  immediately  out  of  sight  of  Jeru¬ 
salem.  Climbing  another  shoulder  of  the  hill,  and  look¬ 
ing  back,  we  obtained  another  view  of  the  city,  but  a 
distant  one ;  not  the  one  spoken  of  in  the  gospel,  where 
it  is  said,  “when  He  came  near.”  The  road  is  very 
rocky,  often  indeed  worn  out  of  the  solid  limestone. 


*  2  Sam.  xviii.  18- 


t  Luke  xix.  41. 


158 


BETHANY — TOMB  OF  LAZARUS. 


Descending  and  leaving  the  Jericho  road,  we  came 
quite  suddenly  upon  Bethany,  called  by  the  Arabs  Aza- 
rieh,  from  the  name  of  Lazarus.  We  found  this  ever- 
memorable  village  to  be  very  like  what  we  could  have 
imagined  it.  It  lies  almost  hidden  in  a  small  ravine  of 
Mount  Olivet,  so  much  so  that  from  the  height  it  cannot 
be  seen.  It  is  embosomed  in  fruit-trees,  especially  figs 
and  almonds,  olives  and  pomegranates.  The  ravine  in 
which  it  lies  is  terraced,  and  the  terraces  are  covered 
either  with  fruit-trees  or  waving  grain.  There  are  not 
many  houses,  perhaps  about  twenty,  inhabited,  but  there 
are  many  marks  of  ancient  ruins.  The  house  of  Laza¬ 
rus  was  pointed  out  to  us,  a  substantial  building,  proba¬ 
bly  a  tower  in  former  days,  and  selected  to  bear  the 
name  of  the  House  of  Lazarus  by  traditionists,  who  did 
not  know  how  else  than  by  his  worldly  eminence  such  a 
man  could  draw  the  special  regard  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 
They  did  not  know  that  Christ  loveth  freely.  The  sep¬ 
ulchre  called  the  Tomb  of  Lazarus  attracted  more  of 
our  attention.  We  lighted  our  tapers,  and  descended 
twenty-six  steps  cut  in  the  rock  to  a  chamber  deep  in 
the  rock,  having  several  niches  for  the  dead.  Whether 
this  be  the  very  tomb  where  Lazarus  lay  four  days,  and 
which  yielded  up  its  dead  at  the  command  of  Jesus,  it  is 
impossible  to  say.  The  common  objection  that  it  is  too 
deep  seems  entirely  groundless,  for  there  is  nothing  in 
the  narrative  to  intimate  that  the  tomb  was  on  a  level 
with  the  ground,  and  besides  it  seems  not  unlikely  that 
there  was  another  entrance  to  the  tomb  farther  down 
the  slope.  A  stronger  objection  is,  that  the  tomb  is  in 
the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  village,  or  actually  in  it, 
but  it  is  possible  that  the  modern  village  occupies  ground 
a  little  different  from  the  ancient  one.  However  this 
may  be,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  is  “  Bethany, 
the  town  of  Mary  and  her  sister  Martha,  nigh  unto  Je¬ 
rusalem,  about  fifteen  furlongs  off'.”*  How  pleasing  are 
all  the  associations  that  cluster  around  it !  Perhaps  there 
was  no  scene  in  the  Holy  Land  which  afforded  us  more 
unmingled  enjoyment :  we  even  fancied  that  the  curse 
that  every  where  rests  so  visibly  upon  the  land  had  fallen 
more  lightly  here.  In  point  of  situation,  nothing  could 
have  come  up  more  completely  to  our  previous  imagina¬ 
tion  of  the  place  to  which  Jesus  delighted  to  retire  at 
evening  from  the  bustle  of  the  city,  and  the  vexations  of 
the  unbelieving  multitudes — sometimes  traversing  the 

*  John  xi.  1,  18. 


BETHANY.  To  face  page  158. 


MOUNT  OF  OLIVES — CHURCH  OF  THE  ASCENSION.  159 

roal  ny  which  we  had  come,  and  perhaps  oftener  still 
coming  up  the  face  of  the  hill  by  the  footpath  that  passes 
on  the  nortn  of  Gethsemane.  What  a  peaceful  scene ! 
Amidst  these  ti  ees,  or  in  that  grassy  field,  he  may  often 
have  been  seen  in  deep  communion  with  the  Father. 
And  in  sight  of  this  verdant  spot  it  was  that  he  took  his 
last  farewell  of  the  disciples,  and  went  upward  to  resume 
the  deep,  unbroken  fellowship  of  “  his  God,  and  our  God,” 
uttering  blessings  even  at  the  moment  when  he  began  to 
be  parted  from  them.*  And  it  was  here  that  the  two 
angels  stood  by  them  in  white  apparel,  and  left  us  this 
glorious  message,  “  The  same  Jesus  which  is  taken  up 
from  you  into  heaven,  shall  so  come  in  like  manner  as  ye 
have  seen  him  go  into  heaven.”  f 

As  we  purposed  to  visit  Bethany  again,  we  were  con¬ 
tented  to  leave  it  the  sooner,  and  following  another  foot¬ 
path,  ascended  to  the  summit  of  the  Mount  of  Olives. 
Near  the  top  is  the  Tomb  of  Huldah  the  prophetess, 
which  we  entered  and  examined.  It  is  a  large  chamber 
cut  out  of  the  natural  rock.  On  what  authority  the 
name  of  Huldah  is  attached  to  it,  we  do  not  know.  Not  far 
from  it  we  visited  the  Church  of  the  Ascension,  originally 
built  by  Helena,  the  mother  of  Constantine,  a.  d.  326, 
over  the  spot  where  it  is  said  that  our  Lord  ascended 
from  the  earth,  and  where  the  inhabitants  still  pretend 
to  shew  the  print  of  his  last  footstep !  This  tradition, 
though  very  ancient,  is  directly  at  variance  with  the 
words  of  the  Evangelist.  It  evidently  arose  from  the 
circumstance  of  this  being  the  most  conspicuous  summit 
of  the  hill,  and  perhaps  in  some  measure  from  the  ap¬ 
pearance,  which  does  exist,  of  something  like  the  foot¬ 
mark  in  the  limestone  rock.  But  the  simple  words  of 
the  Evangelist  decide  the  matter,  “  He  led  them  out  as 
far  as  to  Bethany.”!  He  led  them  beyond  the  summit, 
and  down  the  other  side  of  the  hill,  as  far  as  the  retired 
village  of  Bethany ;  and  in  the  spot  where  he  so  often 
parted  with  them  for  the  night,  he  now  parted  with  them 
for  “  a  little  while,” §  till  the  hour  should  come,  when 
again  “his  feet  shall  stand  upon  the  Mount  of  01ives.”|| 
We  passed  across  the  face  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  to¬ 
wards  the  northern  summit  of  the  hill,  and  there  de¬ 
scending  into  the  valley  of  the  Kedron,  considerably  to 
the  north  of  the  city,  crossed  over  to  the  Tombs  of  the 
Kings.  We  first  clambered  down  into  a  large  area 

*  Luke  xxiv.  51.  +  Acts  i.  11.  t  Luke  xxiv.  50. 

$  John  xiv.  19.  II  Zech.  xiv.  4. 


160 


JERUSALEM-— TOMBS  OF  THE  KINGS. 


which  has  been  cut  out  of  the  solid  rock,  and  on  the  west 
side  of  which  is  a  wide  entrance  which  slopes  down 
under  the  rock.  The  band  of  carved  work  over  the  en¬ 
trance  is  very  beautiful,  representing  a  vine  branch  with 
bunches  of  grapes.  With  lighted  tapers  we  crept  through 
the  low  aperture  which  leads  from  the  portico  into  an 
inner  apartment,  where  are  entrances  to  the  chambers 
of  the  mighty  dead.  We  examined  with  interest  the 
remains  of  the  stone  doors  described  by  many  who  have 
visited  the  place.  One  is  pretty  entire,  but  lying  on  the 
ground.  The  pannels  are  carved  in  the  rock,  and  also 
the  tenons  or  hinges,  which  are  suited  to  sockets  cut  in 
the  rocky  wall.  It  was  to  such  abodes  of  the  dead  that 
Job  referred  when  he  said,  “  Now  should  I  have  lain  still 
and  been  quiet;  I  should  have  slept:  then  had  I  been  at 
rest  with  kings  and  counsellors  of  the  earth,  which  built 
desolate  places  for  themselves.”  *  Isaiah  also  refers  to 
them,  where  he  says,  “  All  the  kings  of  the  nations,  even 
all  of  them  lie  in  glory,  every  one  in  his  own  house.”f 
And  again,  “  Go  get  thee  unto  this  treasurer,  even  unto 
Shebna,  which  is  over  the  house,  and  say,  What  hast 
thou  here,  and  whom  hast  thou  here,  that  thou  hast 
hewn  thee  out  a  sepulchre  here,  as  he  that  heweth  him 
out  a  sepulchre  on  high,  and  that  graveth  an  habitation 
for  himself  in  a  rock  The  sloping  ground  at  the  en¬ 
trance  reminded  us  of  what  is  said  of  John  at  the  sepul¬ 
chre  of  Christ,  “He  stooping  down  and  looking  in  saw 
the  linen  clothes  lying.” § 

A  great  deal  of  obscurity  hangs  over  the  history  of 
these  interesting  sepulchres.  Some  have  supposed  them 
to  be  the  work  of  Herod  and  his  family,  and  others  have 
called  them  the  tomb  of  Helena,  Queen  of  Adiabene,  who 
being  converted  to  the  Jewish  faith  along  with  her  son 
was  buried  near  Jerusalem. 

As  the  sun  was  nearly  down  we  began  to  move  home¬ 
wards,  and  from  a  rising  ground  between  the  tombs  and 
the  city  we  obtained  a  much  more  pleasing  view  of  Je¬ 
rusalem,  with  its  domes  and  minarets,  than  is  afforded 
by  any  of  the  other  approaches  on  this  side.  We  en¬ 
tered  the  Damascus  Gate  before  sunset.  Spending  the 
evening  with  Mr.  Nicolayson,  we  saw  again  the  cus- 

*  Job  iii.  13,  14. 

t  Isa.  xiv.  18.  Compare  Ezek.  xxxii.  17 — end.  May  not  the  prophet 
have  derived  the  scenery  of  this  passage  from  some  such  sepulchres 
as  these  ? 

I  Isa.  xxii.  15,  16.  $  John  xx.  5. 


/ 


GETHSEMANE. 


161 


tom  which  had  attracted  our  attention  at  Damietta,  and 
which  illustrates  several  passages  in  the  gospel.  While 
we  sat  at  meat  several  persons  came  in,  though  unin¬ 
vited,  and  seating  themselves  by  the  wall,  joined  in  the 
conversation.* 

These  are  specimens  of  the  days  we  spent  in  Jerusa¬ 
lem.  Every  object  that  met  our  view  was  invested  with 
a  sacred  interest  in  our  eyes,  and  that  interest  increased 
instead  of  diminishing  the  more  we  examined  the  place. 

Early  one  morning  two  of  us  set  out  to  visit  Gethsem- 
ane.  The  sun  had  newly  risen;  few  people  were  upon 
the  road,  and  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat  was  lonely  and 
still.  Descending  the  steep  of  Mount  Moriah,  and  cross¬ 
ing  the  dry  bed  of  the  brook  Kedron,  we  soon  came  to 
the  low  rude  wall  enclosing  the  plot  of  ground  which  for 
ages  has  borne  the  name  of  Gethsemane.  Clambering 
over  we  examined  the  sacred  Nspot  and  its  eight  olive- 
trees.  These  are  very  large  and  very  old,  but  their 
branches  are  still  strong  and  vigorous.  One  of  them  we 
measured,  and  found  to  be  nearly  eight  yards  in  girth 
round  the  lower  part  of  the  trunk.  "Some  of  them  are 
hollow  with  age,  but  filled  up  with  earth,  and  most  have 
heaps  of  stones  gathered  round  their  roots.  The  enclo¬ 
sure  seems  to  have  been  tilled  at  some  recent  period. 
At  one  corner  some  pilgrim  has  erected  a  stone  and 
carved  upon  it  the  Latin  words,  “  et  hie  tenuerunt  eum ,” 
marking  it  as  the  spot  where  Judas  betrayed  his  Master 
with  a  kiss.  The  road  to  Bethany  passes  by  the  foot  of 
the  garden,  and  the  more  private  footpath  up  the  brow 
of  the  hill  passes  along  its  northern  wall.  Looking  across 
the  Kedron,  the  steep  brow  of  Moriah  and  sombre  wall 
of  the  Haram  with  its  battlements,  and  the  top  of  the 
Mosque  of  Omar,  shut  in  the  view.  At  evening,  when 
the  gates  of  Jerusalem  are  closed,  it  must  be  a"perfect 
solitude.  Our  blessed  Master  must  have  distinctly  seen 
the  band  of  men  and  officers  sent  to  apprehend  him,  with 
their  lanterns  and  torches,  and  glittering  weapons,  de¬ 
scending  the  side  of  Moriah  and  approaching  the  garden. 
By  the  clear  moonlight,  he  saw  his  three  chosen  disciples 
fast  asleep  in  his  hour  of  agony ;  and  by  the  gleam  of  the 
torches,  he  observed  his  cruel  enemies  coming  down  to 
seize  him  and  carry  him  away  to  his  last  sufferings ;  yet 
“he  was  not  rebellious,  neither  turned  away  back.”-f 

*  See  p.  G9 


16 


t  Isa.  1.  5. 


162 


JERUSALEM — POOL  OF  BETHESDA. 


He  viewed  the  bitter  cup  that  was  given  him  to  drink, 
and  said,  “  Shall  I  not  drink  it  1”  *  We  read  over  all  the 
passages  of  Scripture  relating  to  Gethsemane,  while  seat¬ 
ed  together  there.  It  seemed  nothing  wonderful  to  read 
of  the  weakness  of  those  three  disciples,  when  we  re¬ 
member  that  they  were  sinful  men  like  disciples  now ; 
but  the  compassion,  the  unwavering  love  of  Jesus,  ap¬ 
peared  by  the  contrast  to  be  infinitely  amazing.  For 
such  souls  as  ours,  he  rent  this  vale  with  his  strong  cry¬ 
ing  and  tears,  wetted  this  ground  with  his  bloody  sweat, 
and  set  his  face  like  a  flint  to  go  forward  and  die.  “While 
we  were  yet  sinners  Christ  died  for  us.”  f  Each  of  us 
occupied  part  of  the  time  alone — in  private  meditation — 
and  then  we  joined  together  in  prayer — putting  our  sins 
into  that  cup  which  our  Master  drank  here,  and  pleading 
for  our  own  souls,  for  our  far  distant  friends,  and  for  the 
flocks  committed  to  our  care. 

It  is  probable  that  Jesus  often  resorted  to  this  place, 
not  only  because  of  its  retirement,  but  also  because  it 
formed  a  fit  place  of  meeting,  when  his  disciples,  dis¬ 
persed  through  the  city  by  day,  were  to  join  his  com¬ 
pany  in  the  evening,  and  go  with  him  over  the  hill  to  Beth¬ 
any.  And  this  seems  the  real  force  of  the  original  words, 

“  lToXXa/aj  o’VvrjxO’l  o  ’i rjaovs  ekel  /jistol  rco v  ^aQr^rCiv  avTOv”  f  “  JeSUS 

ofttimes  rendezvoused  at  this  spot  with  his  disciples.” 

As  the  day  advanced,  we  repassed  the  brook  Kedron, 
visited  the  spot  where  Stephen  is  said  to  have  been 
stoned,  and  entered  the  city  by  the  gate  which  bears  his 
name.  Here  we  delayed  a  little  to  examine  the  large 
dry  reservoir  which  is  generally  called  “  the  Pool  of  Be- 
thesda.”  It  is  360  feet  long  by  130  feet  broad,  and  about 
70  feet  deep.  A  low  parapet  of  large  stones  runs  along 
the  margin,  over  which  you  look  into  the  vast  dry  basin 
below.  "The  bottom  is  partly  covered  with  rubbish,  and 
partly  planted  with  a  few  flowers  and  old  trees.  At  the 
further  end  are  two  arches,  forming  entrances  into  dark 
vaults,  which  are  generally  believed  to  be  remains  of  the 
five  porches.  Dr.  Robinson  has  conjectured  that  this 
very  deep  pool  was  part  of  the  trench  of  the  castle  of 
Antonia,  which  stood  on  the  north-west  corner  of  the 
ancient  temple ;  and  it  seems  exceedingly  probable  that 
this  is  the  case.  But  is  it  not  probable  that  when  the 
trench  of  Antonia  was  dug,  dividing  it  from  the  hill  Be- 
zetha,  advantage  was  taken  of  the  Pool  of  Bethesda  pre- 


*  John  xviii.  11. 


t  Rom.  v.  8. 


t  John  xviii.  2. 


INFORMATION  REGARDING  THE  JEWS.  163 

viously  existing  in  this  place  1  There  can  be  little  doubt, 
II  om  the  manner  in  which  the  sides  are  cemented,  that  it 
was  anciently  a  pool,  and  it  bears  the  name  of  a  pool 
among  the  native  population  to  this  day.  That  the  Poo1 
ot  Bethesda  was  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  Temple, 
and  also  near  one  of  the  gates  of  the  city,  there  can  be 
no  doujt,  and  that  it  was  a  large  and  important  reservoir, 
seems  also  probable  from  the  narrative  of  the  gospel. 
Put  there  is  no  other  pool  at  present  remaining  in  Jeru¬ 
salem  which  answers  this  description ;  so  that  it  may 
really  be  the  case  that  this  large  reservoir,  though  used 
as  pait  of  the  trench  of  Antonia,  is  still  the  remains  of 
the  intei  esting  Pool  of  Bethesda.  While  we  were  lean¬ 
ing  over  the  parapet  and  musing  over  the  past,  some 
Moslem  boys  began  to  gather  stones  and  throw  them  at 
us,  crying  “Nazarani.”  We  had  approached  nearer  the 
gate  of  the  mosque  than  Christian  feet  are  permitted  to 
do.  An  Egyptian  soldier  who  was  by  took  our  part, 
and  we  quietly  retired.  Being  without  a  guide,  we  had 
the  pleasure  of  losing  our  way,  and  wandering  up  and 
down  for  about  an  hour  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  be¬ 
fore  we  found  our  home  on  the  brow  of  Mount  Zion. 

Iu  the  afternoon  we  spent  five  hours  in  receiving  from 
Mi.  Nicolayson  full  information  regarding  the  numbers 
and  condition  of  the  Jews  in  Palestine.  The  Committee 
of  our  Church  who  sent  us  forth,  had  furnished  u&with 
a  list  of  questions  to  be  investigated  and  answered, 
ihese  we  shall  set  down  in  order,  with  the  information 
we  received  in  reply  to  them. 

I.  Jf  hat  is  the  number  of  J ews  in  J erusalem  and  in 
the  Holy  Land ? 

We  have  already  set  down  briefly  the  answer  to  this 
question.*  A  few  more  particulars  may  be  added.  In 
Jerusalem  1000  Jews  pay  taxes,  and  all  of  these  are  males 
from  thirteen  years  old  and  upwards.  The  Jews  marry 
when  very  young,  so  that,  allowing  five  to  a  family, 
there  are  5000,  represented  by  the  1000  who  pay  taxes, 
in  Jerusalem.  Foreign  Jews,  however,  such  as  Rus¬ 
sians,  Poles,  and  Hungarians,  and  many  others,  continue 
under  the  protection  of  European  powers,  and  pay  no 
taxes.  These  may  amount  to  2000,  which  would  give 
about  7000  Jews  to  Jerusalem.  This  is  the  largest  state¬ 
ment  of  the  number  of  Jews  in  the  Holy  City  that  we 

*  See  p.  148. 


164 


NUMBERS  AND  CONDITION  OP 


any  where  received,  and  is  no  doubt  above  the  rea, 
amount ;  for  the  average  of  five  to  a  family  appears  to 

be  far  too  great.  .  ,  DO„  * 

The  destruction  of  Saphet  by  an  earthquake  in  18o7  * 
occasioned  the  dispersion  of  many  of  the  Jews  who 
dwelt  there.  Of  these,  some  settled  at  Acre,  and  some 
at  Jerusalem.  In  the  cities  along  the  coast,  the  Jews 
have  been  increasing  of  late.  In  Tyre,  formerly  a  Jew 
was  not  allowed  to  spend  a  night ;  but  the  Pasha’s  gov¬ 
ernment  changed  the  law,  and  now  a  congregation  and 
rabbi  have  settled  there.  They  are  chiefly  from  the 
Barbary  coast.  The  recent  occupation  of  Algiers  by  the 
French  enabled  the  Jews  of  that  coast  to  claim  protection 
as  French  subjects,  and  this  induces  them  to  leave  home 
more  freely  for  purposes  of  trade.  The  same  class  of 
Jews  are  found  in  Sidon  and  Beyrout.  At  the  utmost, 
the  whole  Jewish  population  of  Palestine  may  be  reck¬ 
oned  at  about  12,000.  This  is  the  largest  estimate  which 
we  received ;  yet  comparing  it  with  their  numbers  in 
the  days  of  Solomon,  we  may  well  say  in  the  words  of 
Isaiah,  there  are  “  few  men  left.”  f 

II.  Has  the  number  of  Jews  in  Palestine  been  increasing 
of  late  years  ? 

Their  numbers  did  increase  decidedly  during  the  first 
five  years  of  the  Pasha’s  government,  that  is  from  1832 
to  1837,— a  time  which  coincides  with  the  occupation  of 
Algiers  by  the  French.  Many  came  from  the  Barbary 
coast,  who  settled  chiefly  at  Saphet  and  on  the  coast. 
During  the  last  two  years  there  has  been  little  or  no  in¬ 
crease.  There  is  always  an  influx,  but  then  the  mortal¬ 
ity  is  great,  and  the  number  that  come  do  no  more  than 
supply  the  places  of  those  cut  off.  The  change  of  climate 
at  the  advanced  period  of  life  in  which  many  come,  the 
new  habits  which  the  country  forces  them  to  form,  their 
being  crowded  together  in  damp,  unwholesome  residen¬ 
ces,  all  combine  to  shorten  their  days.  This  diminution 
in  the  numbers  of  Jews  returning  to  their  own  land, 
seems  to  be  caused  by  the  ravages  which  the  plague  has 
been  making  for  two  years  past ;  by  the  rise  in  the  price 
of  provisions ;  by  the  embarrassed  finances  of  the  Jewish 

*  See  an  interesting  account  of  this  event  published  by  Erasmus  S.  Cai¬ 
man,  who  was  afterwards  our  faithful  and  affectionate  companion  ultra 
vel. 

t  Isa.  xxiv.  6. 


THE  JEWS  IN  PALESTINE. 


165 


community,  their  debt  amounting  to  nearly  8000/. ;  and 
by  the  oppressions  which  they  suffer  from  the  rabbis. 
Some  have  actually  left,  and  several  have  said  that  they 
would  gladly  leave  Jerusalem  if  it  were  in  their  power. 
Their  reasons  for  coming  into  the  land  are,  1.  The  uni¬ 
versal  belief  that  every  Jew  who  dies  out  of  the  land 
mast  perform  a  subterraneous  passage  back  to  it,  that 
he  may  rise  in  the  Valley  of  Jehoshapbat.  2.  They  be¬ 
lieve  that  to  die  in  this  land  is  certain  salvation,  though 
they  are  not  exempted  from  “  the  beating  in  the  grave, 
and  the  eleven  months  of  purgatory.”  3.  They  believe 
that  those  who  reside  here  have  immediate  communica¬ 
tion  with  Heaven,  and  that  the  rabbis  are  in  a  manner 
inspired.  4.  They  expect  the  appearing  of  Messiah.  The 
Jews  in  Palestine  have  always  cherished  the  hope  of  his 
coming,  and  of  their  own  restoration.  This  opinion  has 
now  even  more  weight  with  them  than  formerly,  for 
they  partake  of  the  general  impression  that  a  crisis  is 
approaching.  The  Jews  here,  as  a  nation,  are  far  from 
infidel,  but  there  are  many  whose  minds  are  fully  occu¬ 
pied  with  their  miseries. 

III.  Are  the  J ews  in  Palestine  supported  by  their  breth¬ 
ren  in  other  parts  of  the  world  ? 

Generally  speaking,  they  are  all  supported  by  a  yearly 
contribution  made  by  their  brethren  in  other  lands.  All 
foreign  Jews  residing  in  Palestine  are  entirely  dependent 
on  contributions  from  Europe,  except  a  few  who  have 
property  in  Europe.  These  latter  either  bring  their  little 
property  with  them,  or  make  it  over  to  friends  in  Eu¬ 
rope,  on  condition  of  their  sending  them  an  annual  sum 
to  the  Holy  Land,  upon  which  they  live  here.  But  even 
these  may  receive  their  share,  as  every  Jew,  rich  or 
poor,  who  has  been  one  year  in  the  country,  has  a  share 
allotted  to  him  if  he  chooses  to  take  it.  The  sum  received 
by  each  individual  is  very  small ;  much  is  swallowed  up 
by  their  differences  and  quarrels,  and  much  is  required 
to  pay  the  interest  of  their  debt.  Five  ducats,  or  about 
3/.,  10s.  a-head,  is  thought  a  good  contribution.  At  pre¬ 
sent,  however,  it  is  even  smaller.  The  way  of  collecting 
the  European  contributions  used  to  be  this.  Messengers 
(zd'H'W,  sheleeheem)  were  sent  from  Jerusalem  to'the 
different  cities  in  Europe,  where  collections  were  made, 
and  these  brought  the  money  to  Palestine.  This  was  a 
very  expensive  method,  for  nearly  one-fourth  of  the  sum 


166 


NUMBERS  AND  CONDITION  OP 


collected  was  spent  in  paying  the  expenses  of  the  mes¬ 
sengers.  Of  late  years,  however,  another  plan  has  been 
adopted.  The  money  is  sent  to  Amsterdam,  where  it  is 
received  by  a  rich  Jewish  merchant,  Hirsh  Lehren,  called 
on  this  account  “  President  of  the  Holy  Land,”  and  he 
transmits  it  to  the  Austrian  Consul  at  Beyrout,  by  whom 
it  is  conveyed  to  the  Jews  at  Jerusalem.  The  average 
amount  may  be  7000  ducats  =  14,000  dollars  =  280,000 
piastres,  or  2800/.  But  there  is  something  to  be  deduct¬ 
ed  even  from  this.  Often  there  is  a  nonp  (kedamah); 
that  is,  something  to  be  paid  out  to  individuals  before 
the  sum  is  distributed.  A  list  of  these  is  kept.  They 
are  persons  who  have  been  specially  named  by  friends 
in  Europe  who  sent  the  money.  The  largest  collections 
come  from  Amsterdam  ;  not  much  from  Britain.  Some 
Jews,  chiefly  Spanish,  are  supported  by  being  readers 
in  the  places  devoted  to  study  (nvaty>,  yishvioth).  A 
small  sum  is  appropriated  by  legacy  to  each  of  the  per¬ 
sons  who  are  chosen  to  study  there.  This  yields  per¬ 
haps  100  or  150  piastres  a  year  to  the  individual. 

IV.  Is  there  kept  up  constant  and  rapid  communica¬ 
tion  between  the  Jews  in  Palestine,  and  those  in 
other  parts  of  the  world  ? 

The  Rabbis  of  Palestine  maintain  a  constant  commu¬ 
nication  with  their  brethren  all  over  the  world.  In  one 
respect,  indeed,  it  may  be  said,  that  Jerusalem  is  not  the 
centre  of  Jewish  influence;  for  there  is  little  outgoing 
from  it;  the  Jews  are  stationary  there;  yet,  onthe  other 
hand,  it  is  true  that  Jerusalem  is  the  heart  of  the  nation, 
and  every  thing  done  there  or  in  the  Holy  Land  will  tell 
upon  the  whole  Jewish  world.  When  conversions  take 
place,  although  they  wish  to  keep  them  quiet,  still  the 
intelligence  is  soon  communicated,  and  known  and 
spoken  of  every  where.  A  Jew  said  lately  to  Mr.  Nico- 
layson,  that  he  believed  that  in  a  short  time  no  young 
Jews  would  be  allowed  to  come  to  the  Holy  Land,  if  the 
missionaries  continued  to  labour  as  they  were  doing. 
They  would  trust  only  old  confirmed  Jews  there,  who 
would  be  able  to  meet  their  arguments.  The  communi¬ 
cation,  however,  is  by  no  means  rapid,  being  carried  on 
by  means  of  messengers.  Much  mischief  has  often  arisen 
from  this  system,  for  the  rabbis  sometimes  intercept  the 
letters  of  poor  Jews,  which  they  fear  may  be  complain¬ 
ing  of  their  conduct. 


THE  JEWS  IN  PALESTINE. 


167 


V.  Ft  'om  what  countries  do  the  Jews  principally  come  ? 

The  greatest  numbers  come  from  Poland,  and  the  Aus¬ 
trian  dominions.  Many  come  from  Russia,  and  many 
more  would  come  if  they  were  not  hindered.*  There 
are  some  from  Wallachia  and  Moldavia;  a  few  from 
Germany ;  a  few  from  Holland ;  but  scarcely  any  from 
Britain.  All  these  being  Europeans  receive  the  name 
of  Ashkenazim. f  The  native  Jews,  that  is,  those  Jews 
who  are  subjects  of  the  country,  are  called  Sephardim , 
and  are  almost  all  of  Spanish  extraction.  They  come 
principally  from  Turkey  in  Europe,  from  Saloniki,  Con¬ 
stantinople,  and  the  Dardanelles.  Those  who  come 
from  Asia  Minor  are  chiefly  from  Smyrna.  Many  have 
come  from  Africa,  especially  of  late  years,  from  Morocco, 
and  the  Barbary  coast,  from  Algiers,  Tunis,  and  Tripoli. 
These  bring  French  passports,  and  are  therefore  under 
protection.  There  are  a  few  from  Alexandria  and  Cairo. 
Mr.  Nicolayson  never  saw  any  Jews  from  India,  though 
several  have  gone  to  India  and  returned.  They  have 
occasional  communication  by  individuals  with  Yemen 
and  Sennah.  There  are  many  Spanish  Jews,  and  several 
Polish  families,  who  have  been  here  for  generations, 
whose  fathers  and  grandfathers  have  died  here,  and  who 
are  really  natives  of  Palestine.  But  most  even  of  these 
count  themselves  foreigners  still,  and  they  generally  con¬ 
trive  to  make  a  tour  to  Europe  some  time  in  their  life. 

VI.  Are  there  many  Rabbis  in  Palestine  ? 

There  is  often  a  great  mistake  made  about  the  rank 
of  those  who  get  the  title  of  Rabbi.  The  truth  is,  all  are 
included  in  that  class  who  are  not  in  the  class  y-iNn 
(am  haaretz),  that  is  the  uneducated.  Formerly,  the 
Rabbis  were  a  kind  of  clergy,  and  were  appointed  by 
laying  on  of  hands,  but  now  there  is  no  such  distinc¬ 
tion.  The  official  Rabbi  does  not  even  preside  in  the 
synagogue,  but  deputes  this  to  another,  the  Kazan,  who 
is  often  chosen  because  of  his  fine  voice.  The  only  part 
of  the  duty  which  is  reserved  peculiarly  for  the  priest,  is 
the  pronouncing  the  blessing.  None  but  a  Cohen,  a 
priest  of  Aaron’s  line,  can  give  this.  In  the  synagogue 
any  one  may  be  called  up  to  read.  This  custom  appears 

*  There  is  a  day  coming  when  the  prophecy  shall  be  fulfilled,  “I  will 
say  to  the  north,  Give  up.”  Isa.  xliii.  6. 

t  Gen.  x.  3.  Ashkenaz,  son  of  Gomer,  gives  origin  to  the  name,  as 
Sepharad,  mentioned  in  Obadiah  20,  does  to  Sephardim. 


168 


NUMBERS  and  condition  of 


to  be  as  old  as  the  days  of  our  Lord.*  The  only  distinc¬ 
tion  made  is,  that  first  a  Cohen  is  called  up  to  read,  then 
a  Levite,  then  a  common  Israelite.  Most  of  the  Jews  in 
the  Holy  Land  spend  their  time  in  a  sort  of  study  or 
reading.  Crowded  in  their  families,  however,  they  can¬ 
not  really  devote  themselves  to  study;  and  their  dis¬ 
putes  also  are  a  great  hinderance.  They  study  nothing 
but  Talmudical  books,  and  even  in  this  department  there 
is  none  of  them  who  can  be  called  learned  when  com¬ 
pared  with  Jews  in  Europe. 

The  Yishvioth  are  not  seats  of  learning ;  they  are  rather 
situations  of  emolument,  though  originally  intended  to 
encourage  learning.  There  are  nominally  thirty-six  of 
these  reading-places  in  Jerusalem,  but  often  the  books 
belonging  to  two  or  three  are  collected  into  one.  These 
have  been  established  by  individuals  for  behoof  of  their 
souls.  They  left  a  little  money  to  furnish  them,  and  to 
enable  a  few  persons  to  devote  themselves  to  study 
there,  and  to  be  trained  up  in  the  law,  for  this  is  a  nor 
(zechuth),  or  deed  of  merit.  Five  or  six  readers  are 
elected  to  each  of  them,  one  or  two  of  whom  are  expected 
to  be  always  reading  the  Talmud  there,  and  each  of  these 
receives  100  or  150  piastres  a-year  to  maintain  him. 
These  appointments  are  obtained  by  favour  and  private 
influence.  In  many  cases  the  rooms  are  much  neglected. 

VII.  What  are  the  peculiar  characteristics  of  the  Jews 

in  Palestine  ? 

Their  principal  characteristic  is,  that  they  are  all  strict 
Rabbinists,  though  in  this  they  can  hardly  be  said  to 
differ  from  the  Polish  Jews.  They  are  also  superstitious 
in  the  extreme.  Their  real  characteristic  may  be  in¬ 
ferred  from  the  fact,  that  those  who  come  are  the  elite 
of  the  devotional  and  strictly  religious  Jews  of  other 
countries.  They  have  so  little  trade  that  their  covetous¬ 
ness  and  cheating  are  turned  upon  one  another. 

VIII.  What  are  the  feelings  of  the  Jews  in  Palestine 

toivards  Christianity  ? 

IX.  What  success  has  attended  the  efforts  hitherto  made 

for  their  conversion? 

These  two  questions  involve  each  other.  The  first  effort 
of  the  London  Society  in  this  country  was  made  in  the 


*  Luke  iv.  16. 


THE  JEWS  IN  PALESTINE. 


169 


year  1820  by  a  Swiss  clergyman  named  Tschudi,  who 
was  employed  chiefly  in  distributing  the  Scriptures  to 
the  Jews.  Joseph  Wolff  then  made  two  visits  to  Jerusa¬ 
lem,  and  had  a  good  deal  of  personal  intercourse  with 
the  Jews.  He  was  always  enabled  to  leave  this  impres¬ 
sion  behind  him,  that  Christians  were  really  seeking  the 
conversion  of  Israel,  and  that  without  Christ  there  is  no 
forgiveness.  Soon  after,  Mr.  Lewis  Way  came  to  the 
East  with  the  view  of  forming  a  mission,  accompanied  by 
Mr.  Lewis,  an  Irish  clergyman,  (the  same  whose  kind¬ 
ness  and  Christian  hospitality  we  afterwards  enjoyed,) 
and  by  several  converted  Jews.  He  rented  a  convent  at 
Antoura,  intending  to  make  it  a  place  where  missionaries 
might  prepare  themselves,  but  ill-health  forced  him  to  re¬ 
turn  home.  In  1824,  Dr.  Dalton,  a  medical  man,  was  sent 
out  to  aid  Mr.  Lewis  in  forming  a  settlement  in  Jerusa¬ 
lem  ;  but  the  latter  returned  home  that  same  autumn. 
Upon  this  Dr.  Dalton  made  an  arrangement  with  two 
American  missionaries  who  had  arrived,  named  King  and 
Pliny  Fisk,  to  rent  one  of  the  small  convents  for  their 
establishment.  Pliny  Fisk,  however,  died  in  October 
1825,  before  the  arrangement  was  completed;  and  Dr. 
Dalton  was  again  left  alone.  It  was  to  aid  him  that  Mr. 
Nicolayson  was  sent  to  this  country  in  December  1825. 
But  very  soon  after  his  arrival,  Dr.  Dalton  died,  in  Janu¬ 
ary  1826,  of  an  illness  caught  on  a  tour  to  Bethlehem. 
Mr.  Nicolayson  returned  to  Beyrout,  and  studied  the 
language  more  thoroughly  during  that  winter.  In  the 
summer  of  the  same  year  (1826),  a  rebellion  broke  out, 
and  Mr.  Nicolayson  retired  to  Saphet  and  lived  there  till 
June  1827,  having  much  intercourse  with  the  Jews.  Con¬ 
siderable  impression  was  made,  and  the  rabbis  grew 
jealous  of  him.  They  threatened  to  excommunicate  the 
man  who  let  him  his  house,  and  the  woman  who  washed 
his  clothes,  so  that  he  was  forced  to  return  to  Beyrout. 
He  then  left  the  country  for  four  years,  and  travelled  on 
the  Barbary  coast.  In  1832  he  returned,  and  came  to 
Beyrout  with  his  family  at  the  time  when  the  Pasha  had 
nearly  taken  Acre.  The  country  was  now  quite  open, 
so  that  he  spent  the  summer  at  Sidon,  and  had  inter¬ 
course  with  Christians  and  Jews.  He  was  beginning  to 
build  a  cottage  there,  when  the  jealousy  of  the  Greek 
priests  threw  obstacles  in  his  way.  In  1833,  Mr.  Caiman 
came,  and  he  and  Mr.  Nicolayson  made  a  tour  together 
to  the  holy  cities.  Mr.  Caiman’s  sweetness  of  tempei 
and  kindly  manner  gained  upon  the  Jews  exceedingly 


170 


NUMBERS  AND  CONDITION  OF 


At  Jerusalem  they  consulted  with  Ysa  Petros,  a  Greek 
priest,  who  was  very  friendly,  as  to  the  practicability  of 
renting  a  house  in  that  city.  They  visited  Tiberias,  and 
had  many  discussions  with  the  Jews,  the  results  of  which 
were  often  very  encouraging ;  and  last  of  all  spent  an 
interesting  fortnight  at  Saphet.  On  returning  to  Bey- 
rout,  they  found  that  two  American  Missionaries  had 
arrived  on  their  way  to  Jerusalem  to  labour  among  the 
native  Christians.  They  all  resolved  to  attempt  the 
renting  of  a  house  in  the  Holy  City.  Accordingly,  in  the 
autumn  of  1833,  Mr.  Nicolayson  and  family  removed  to 
Jerusalem,  to  the  house  on  Mount  Zion  where  he  now 
lives,  and  spent  a  quiet  comfortable  winter.  In  the 
spring  of  1834,  Mr.  Thomson,  an  American  Missionary, 
arrived,  and  about  the  same  time  the  rebellion  broke  out. 
One  Sabbath  morning,  the  Missionaries  found  themselves 
environed,  the  soldiers  having  left  the  town  to  the  mercy 
of  the  Fellahs;  and  an  earthquake  happened  the  same 
day.  They  were  shut  up  in  their  dwelling  till  the  Fri¬ 
day  when  Ibraim  arrived,  but  remained  in  a  state  of 
siege  for  five  or  six  weeks.  During  ten  days  they  had 
to  live  upon  rice  alone.  Sickness  followed.  Mrs.  Thom¬ 
son,  of  the  American  Mission,  died  of  brain  fever,  pro¬ 
duced  by  the  alarm  and  other  circumstances.  Mrs. 
Nicolayson  was  ill  for  three  or  four  weeks,  and  Mr.  Nic¬ 
olayson  fell  ill  soon  after,  so  that  they  had  to  leave  for 
Beyrout,  and  thus  lost  that  summer.  In  the  spring  of 
1835,  Dr.  Dodge  and  Mr.  Whiting,  two  more  American 
Missionaries,  arrived.  Mr.  Whiting  boarded  with  Mr. 
Nicolayson  in  Jerusalem,  but  Dr.  Dodge  died  in  the  mid¬ 
dle  of  the  same  year  he  came  out.  From  this  time  the 
Jewish  Mission  may  be  accounted  as  established  in  the 
Holy  City.  In  1835,  the  subject  of  a  Hebrew  Church  on 
Mount  Zion  was  started  in  England,  and  in  1836  Mr. 
Nicolayson  was  called  to  England  to  consult  regarding 
it.  He  returned  in  July  1837,  and  laboured  alone  in  Jeru¬ 
salem  for  a  year.  But  in  July  1838,  Mr.  Pieritz  and  Mr. 
Levi,  converted  Jews,  but  not  in  orders,  were  sent  out 
to  strengthen  the  Mission  here ;  and  in  December,  Dr. 
Gerstmann,  and  his  assistant  Mr.  Bergheim,  both  con¬ 
verted  Jews,  and  both  medical  men,  arrived.  They  have 
thus  made  Jerusalem  the  centre  of  the  Mission  to  the  Jews 
in  Palestine.  Mr.  Young,  the  English  Consul,  had  fixed 
his  quarters  here  about  three  months  before  our  arrival. 

The  efforts  made  have  been  blessed  to  the  conversion 
of  some  Jews  in  Jerusalem,  tf*ough  it  is  still  the  day  of 


THE  JEWS  IN  PALESTINE. 


171 


small  things.  A  Jew  named  Simeon  was  awakened  at 
Bucharest  by  reading  a  New  Testament  and  some  tracts 
which  he  received  from  a  Jew  who  did  not  understand 
them.  He  was  convinced,  but  had.  many  difficulties 
which  he  could  not  get  over.  A  converted  Jew  came 
and  preached  at  Bucharest,  and  advised  him  to  go  to  the 
Missionaries  at  Constantinople.  He  went,  but  could  not 
find  them  out.  He  proceeded  to  Smyrna,  where  he  met 
with  another  inquiring  Jew  named  Eliezer.  Mr.  Nico- 
layson  was  in  Smyrna  at  the  time  on  his  way  to  Jerusa¬ 
lem.  When  Simeon  heard  that  a  missionary  from  the 
Holy  City  was  there,  he  immediately  came  to  him,  and 
opened  up  his  mind.  Mr.  Nicolayson  brought  him  as  a 
servant  to  Jerusalem.  During  Mr.  Nicolayson’s  absence 
in  1836-7,  he  was  under  the  care  of  Mr.  Caiman.  His 
wife  for  a  long  time  refused  to  follow  him  from  Walla- 
chia,  and  bitterly  opposed  his  change ;  but  being  induced 
to  come  to  Jerusalem,  and  being  regularly  instructed  by 
Mr.  Pieritz,  and  also  affected  by  an  illness,  she  gave 
good  evidence  of  having  undergone  a  saving  change, 
and  now  she  speaks  like  a  missionary  to  her  country¬ 
women.  The  whole  family,  consisting  of  Simeon,  his 
wife,  a  boy,  and  girl,  were  baptized  in  Jerusalem  after 
last  Easter.  This  is  the  family  at  whose  house  we  heard 
the  German  service  last  Sabbath-day.  Another  case 
was  that  of  Chaii  or  Hymen  Paul,  an  amiable  young 
Jew,  an  acquaintance  of  Simeon,  who  became  intelli¬ 
gently  convinced  of  the  truth.  He  was  baptized  last 
Pentecost,  and  at  his  own  desire  sent  to  England. 

The  first  native  Jew  awakened  at  Jerusalem  was 
Rabbi  Joseph,  in  September  1838.  He  was  a  learned 
young  man,  and  so  bitterly  was  his  change  opposed  by 
the  Jews,  that  the  Missionaries  were  obliged  to  send  him 
away  to  Constantinople  before  he  was  baptized.  Three 
rabbis  have  very  lately  become  inquirers  after  the  truth, 
and  seem  determined  to  profess  Christianity  openly. 
We  afterwards  received  a  fuller  account  of  these  two 
last  cases  from  Mr.  Pieritz.  These  are  all  the  known 
fruits  of  the  Mission  in  the  way  of  conversion. 

When  Rabbi  Joseph  was  awakened,  a  herem  or  ban 
of  excommunication  was  pronounced  in  the  synagogues 
against  the  Missionaries,  and  all  who  should  have  deal¬ 
ings  with  them.  But  when  Dr.  Gerstmann,  the  medical 
man,  came  in  December,  the  Jews  immediately  began  to 
break  through  it.  Another  herem  was  pronounced,  but 
in  vain.  No  one  regarded  it,  and  Rabbi  Israel  refused 


172 


NUMEERS  AND  CONDITION  OF 


to  pronounce  it,  saying  that  he  would  not  be  the  cause 
of  hindering  his  poor  and  sick  brethren  from  going  to  be 
healed.  This  interesting  fact  shows  the  immense  value 
of  medical  missionaries. 

The  more  general  fruits  of  the  establishment  of  the 
Mission  have  been  these:  1.  The  distinction  between 
true  and  false  Christianity  has  been  clearly  opened  up 
before  the  eyes  of  the  Jews.  2.  The  study  of  the  Old 
Testament  has  been  forced  upon  them;  so  that  they 
cannot  avoid  it.  3.  The  word  of  God  has  become  more 
and  more  the  only  ground  of  controversy.  The  au¬ 
thority  of  the  Talmud  is  not  now  appealed  to  ;  the  only 
dispute  about  it  being  whether  it  is  to  be  referred  to  at 
all,  or  what  is  its  real  value  I 

The  support  of  inquirers  and  converts  is  one  of  the 
chief  difficulties  that  meets  a  Missionary  here.  The  in¬ 
stitution  of  a  printing  press,  to  afford  them  both  manual 
and  mental  labour,  has  been  proposed.  An  hospital  for 
the  sick  has  also  been  set  on  foot. 

X.  What  modes  of  operation  have  been  employed? 

The  mode  of  operation  is  entirely  by  personal  inter¬ 
course.  The  Missionaries  frequently  make  tours  to 
other  towns,  and  dispose  of  copies  of  the  Old  Testament. 
Mr.  Nicolayson  has  sold  about  5000  Hebrew  Bibles. 
The  Missionaries  never  dispose  of  the  New  Testament, 
except  to  those  in  whom  they  have  confidence.  They 
at  one  time  sold  a  box  of  fifty  New  Testaments,  bound 
up  with  the  Old.  But  they  afterwards  found  the  New 
Testament  torn  out,  and  blank  leaves  inserted  in  stead, 
with  Jarchi’s  Commentary  written  on  them.  The  Jews 
will  not  take  tracts  except  privately.  Many  of  their  Old 
Testaments  have  been  conveyed  to  Bagdad  and  to  India. 

XI.  How  far  is  the  health  of  the  Missionaries  affected 

by  the  climate? 

The  climate  of  Jerusalem  is  decidedly  healthy.  The 
sicknesses  and  deaths  among  the  Missionaries  above 
mentioned,  can  hardly  be  attributed  to  the  climate.  Dr. 
Dalton  was  very  delicate  when  he  came;  Mrs.  Thomson 
died  of  brain  fever ;  and  Dr.  Dodge’s  death  was  occa¬ 
sioned  by  a  hurried  journey,  in  which  he  was  much  ex¬ 
posed. 


THE  JEWS  IN  PALESTINE.  173 

XIII.  What  kind  of  house  accommodation  is  there ,  and 
what  is  the  expense  of  living  in  Palestine  ? 

The  house  accommodation  in  Jerusalem  is  tolerably 
comfortable.  One  of  the  Missionaries  pays  £15,  and 
another  £17  a-year,  as  house-rent.  In  the  winter  it  is  diffi¬ 
cult  to  keep  the  houses  dry,  the  rain  causing  much  damp¬ 
ness,  but  the  sorest  privations  are  want  of  Christian 
society,  and  public  means  of  grace.  A  Missionary  here 
meets  with  many  trials  which  he  did  not  anticipate.  He 
must  have  great  patience,  and  must  make  up  his  mind 
to  suffer  delays  and  disappointments,  which  are  much 
more  trying  than  merely  temporal  privations,  which  are 
really  small.  A  Missionary  coming  out  must  not  expect 
full  work  at  once,  he  must  be  willing  to  stand  by  and 
wait.  Often  we  may  say,  “  His  strength  is  to  sit  still.” 
The  Christian  Missionary  enjoys  perfect  liberty  to  carry 
on  his  operations  under  the  Egyptian  government,  more 
so,  indeed,  than  under  the  British  government  at  Malta 
or  in  India.  No  one  inquires  what  he  is  about. 

Provisions  are  easily  got ;  but  the  expense  of  living  is 
rising  continually.  The  price  of  food  is  now  double  what 
it  once  was,  and  some  things  are  four  times  as  high  as 
when  Mr.  Nicolayson  first  came.  This  arises  from  there 
being  more  money  in  the  country.  If  boarding  could  be 
obtained  in  Jerusalem,  then  an  individual  might  easily 
live  here  on  less  than  £100  a-year.  But  this  is  not  to  be 
had,  so  that  a  Missionary  must  keep  a  house  and  ser¬ 
vants,  and  lay  up  stores  for  the  season.  This  is  the  only 
way  of  managing  here ;  and  this  would  require  at  least 
£100  a-year.  In  addition  to  the  salaries  of  the  Mission¬ 
aries,  the  London  Society  pay  all  the  travelling  expenses 
of  their  missionary  tours. 

The  business  of  the  day  being  over,  we  enjoyed  a 
walk  outside  the  Zion  Gate.  As  we  sat  upon  the  brow 
of  the  hill,  we  were  led  to  rejoice  in  the  thought,  that  as 
certainly  as  “  Zion  is  now  ploughed  as  a  field,”  the  day 
is  coming  when  “  the  Lord  of  Hosts  shall  reign  in  Mount 
Zion,  and  in  Jerusalem,  and  before  his  ancients  glori¬ 
ously.”  * 

Two  flocks  were  moving  slowly  up  the  slope  of  the 
hill,  the  one  of  goats,  the  other  of  sheep.  The  shepherd 
was  going  before  the  flock,  and  they  followed,  as  he  led 
the  way  toward  the  Jaffa  Gate.  We  could  not  but  re- 

*  Isa.  xxiv.  23. 

17 


174 


EXCURSION  TO  HEBRON. 


member  the  Saviour’s  words,  “  When  he  putteth  forth  his 
own  sheep,  he  goeth  before  them,  and  the  sheep  follow 
him,  for  they  know  his  voice.”  * 

In  the  evening  we  visited  the  Consul,  who  had  invited 
the  Governor  of  Jerusalem  to  meet  us.  The  Turk  occu¬ 
pies  the  house  said  to  have  belonged  to  Pontius  Pilate. 
He  came  in,  attired  in  full  Eastern  costume,  a  handsome 
young  man,  attended  by  three  servants,  one  of  whom 
carried  his  pipe.  The  servants  remained  in  the  room, 
near  the  door,  and  kept  their  eye  on  their  master.  On 
occasion  of  a  slight  motion  of  the  hand,  one  of  them 
stepped  forward  and  took  the  pipe,  and  then  resumed  his 
place  as  before,  watching  his  master’s  movements,  as  if 
to  anticipate  his  wishes.  This  is  the  custom  which  we 
observed  in  Egypt  f  as  illustrating  Psalm  cxxiii,  “  Be¬ 
hold,  as  the  eyes  of  servants  look  unto  the  hand  of  their 
masters — so  our  eyes  upon  the  Lord  our  God,  until  that 
he  have  mercy  upon  us.”|  He  was  very  affable,  and 
seemed  highly  entertained  with  examining  our  eye-glas¬ 
ses  and  watches.  He  drank  wine  with  us  also,  probably 
to  shew  how  liberal  a  high-born  Mussulman  can  be. 

In  the  evening  we  planned  an  excursion  to  Hebron, 
and  next  day  (June  13)  set  out  by  7  a.  m.,  accompanied 
by  the  Consul  and  his  lady,  Mr.  Nicolayson,  and  Mr. 
George  Dalton.  Some  were  mounted  on  mules,  and 
some  on  horses ;  the  saddles,  as  usual,  broad  and  un¬ 
comfortable.  Crossing  the  Vale  of  Gihon,  we  turned 
due  south,  and  travelled  over  the  fine  plain  of  Rephaim. 
About  three  miles  from  the  city,  we  came  to  a  well, 
where  tradition  has  fixed  the  scene  of  Matt.  ii.  10.  It  is 
one  of  the  few  beautiful  traditions  associated  with  sacred 
places.  The  tradition  is,  that  the  wise  men,  who  for  some 
time  had  lost  the  guidance  of  the  star  which  brought 
them  from  their  country,  sat  down  beside  this  well  to  re¬ 
fresh  themselves,  when  one  of  their  number  saw  the  re¬ 
flection  of  the  star  in  the  clear  water  of  the  well.  He 
cried  aloud  to  his  companions,  and  “  when  they  saw  the 

*  John  x.  4.  A  traveller  once  asserted  to  a  Syrian  shepherd,  that 
the  sheep  knew  the  dress  of  their  master,  not  his  voice.  The  shepherd, 
on  the  other  hand,  asserted  it  was  the  voice  they  knew.  To  settle  the 
point,  he  and  the  traveller  changed  dresses,  and  went  among  the  sheep 
The  traveller,  in  the  shepherd’s  dress,  called  on  the  sheep,  and  tried  to 
lead  them ;  but  “  they  knew  not  his  voice,”  and  never  moved.  On  the 
other  hand,  they  ran  at  once  at  the  call  of  their  owner,  though  thus 
disguised. 

t  See  p.  89.  f  Ps.  cxxiii.  2. 


BETHLEHEM — RACHEL’S  SEPULCHRE  175 

star  they  rejoiced  with  exceeding  great  joy.”  This  weil 
may  perhaps  be  the  fountain  of  Nephtoah* 

We  passed  the  Convent  of  Elijali ;  for  the  monks  sup¬ 
pose  that  the  prophet  fled  this  way  to  Beersheba,f  and 
under  a  neighbouring  tree,  they  pretend  to  show  the 
mark  left  by  his  body  as  he  lay  asleep  on  the  rocky 
ground,  though  it  is  hard  stone.  From  this  point  we  ob¬ 
tained  our  first  sight  of  Bethlehem,  lying  about  three 
miles  to  the  south  upon  a  considerable  eminence,  and 
possessing  at  a  distance  a  peculiarly  attractive  appear¬ 
ance.  We  meant  to  visit  it  in  returning,  and  therefore 
at  present  contented  ourselves  with  a  distant  view  of  the 
place  where  the  memorable  words  were  spoken  by  the 
Angel,  “Fear  not,  for  behold  I  bring  you  good  tidings  of 
great  joy ;  unto  you  is  born  this  day  in  the  city  of  David, 
a  Saviour,  which  is  Christ  the  Lord.”!  About  a  mile  and 
a  half  further  to  the  south  we  came  to  a  tomb,  built  like 
the  whited  sepulchres  of  the  East,  but  believed  to  be 
Rachel's  Sepulchre.  The  tomb  is  no  doubt  modern, 
erected  probably  by  the  Mahometans ;  but  the  spot  may 
justly  be  regarded  as  the  place  where  Rachel  died  and 
was  buried,  “And  there  was  but  a  little  way  to  come  to 
Ephrath  (i.  e.  Bethlehem  Ephratah§);  and  Rachel  tra¬ 
vailed,  and  she  had  hard  labour — and  Rachel  died,  and 
was  buried  in  the  way  to  Ephrath,  which  is  Bethlehem ; 
and  Jacob  set  a  pillar  upon  her  grave ;  that  is  the  pillar 
of  Rachel’s  grave  unto  this  day.”H  The  Jews  frequently 
visit  it ;  and  many  (as  Benjamin  of  Tudela  says  they 
used  to  do  in  his  days)  have  left  their  names  and  places 
of  abode  in  Hebrew  inscribed  upon  the  white  plaster  in 
the  interior  walls.  To  the  west  of  the  tomb,  on  the  face 
of  a  hill,  stands  a  large  and  pleasant-looking  village  called 
Bet-Jalah,  inhabited,  we  are  told,  entirely  by  Christians. 
May  this  not  be  the  ancient  Zelzah,  “  by  Rachel’s  sepul¬ 
chre  in  the  border  of  Benjamin, where  Saul  was  told 
that  his  father’s  asses  had  been  found  1  In  other  passages 
of  Scripture**  the  place  is  called  Zelah,  from  which  the 
modern  name  might  easily  be  formed  by  prefixing  the 
common  syllable  “  Bet”  (that  is,  “  house”),  and  softening 
the  sibilant  letter.  If  so,  then  this  is  the  spot  where  they 
buried  the  bones  of  Saul  and  Jonathan — “  in  Zelah,  in  the 
sepulchre  of  Kish  his  father.” 

*  Josh.  xv.  9.  t  1  Kings  xix.  4.  +  Luke  ii.  10 

$  Mic.  v.  2  II  Gen.  xxxv.  1G,  19,  20.  H  1  Sam.  x.  2. 

**  Josh,  xviii.  28.  2  Sam.  xxi.  14. 


176 


Solomon’s  pools. 


Leaving  Bethlehem  about  half  a  mile  to  the  east,  and 
proceeding  still  in  a  southerly  direction,  we  came  down 
in  a  short  "time  to  the  valley,  where  lie  the  three  large  and 
singular  reservoirs,  called  Solomon’s  Pools.  They  are 
situated  at  a  short  distance  from  one  another,  each  on  a 
different  level,  so  that  the  water  flows  from  the  upper 
into  the  middle  pool,  and  from  the  middle  into  the  lower 
pool,  from  which  it  is  conveyed  by  a  stone  aqueduct 
round  the  hills  to  Bethlehem,  and  from  Bethlehem  to 
Jerusalem.  The  walls  of  the  pool  are  of  solid  masonry 
covered  over  with  cement.  Close  by  is  a  Saracenic  fort 
with  high  walls  and  a  battlement,  perhaps  originally  in¬ 
tended  to  protect  the  pools.  Under  the  shade  of  its  walls 
we  left  our  mules,  and  proceeded  to  measure  the  pools 
with  a  line  as  accurately  as  the  ground  would  admit. 
The  result  was  as  follows  : — 


1.  The  Upper  or  Western  Pool. 


Length  of  north  side, 
of  south  side, 
Breadth  of  west  side, 
...  of  east  side, 
Depth  at  one  point, 


389  feet 
380  ... 
229  ... 
236  ... 
25  ... 


2.  The  Middle  Pool. 


Length,  .....  425  feet. 

Breadth  of  west  side,  .  .  .  158  ... 

...  of  east  side,  .  •  •  250  ... 


3.  The  Loivest  or  Pastern  Pool. 


Length, .  583  feet. 

Breadth  on  the  west  side,  .  .  148  ... 

...  on  east  side,  .  .  .  202  ... 

At  all  the  corners  there  are  flights  of  steps  descending 
into  them.  The  water  is  pure  and  delightful,  and  each 
of  the  pools  was  about  half  full.  Of  the  great  antiquity 
of  these  splendid  reservoirs  there  can  be  no  doubt,  and 
there  seems  every  probability  that  they  are  the  work  of 
Solomon.  This  pleasant  valley  being  so  near  the  spot 
where  his  father  David  fed  his  sheep,  would  be  always 
interesting  to  the  king ;  but  the  only  reference  to  the 
pools  in  Scripture,  appears  to  be  in  Ecclesiastes,  where 
he  describes  the  manner  in  which,  forsaking  the  fountain 
of  living  waters, — “the  God  that  appeared  unto  him 
twice,” — he  sought  every  where  for  cisterns  of  earthly 
joy.  “  I  made  me  gardens  and  orchards,  and  I  planted 
trees  in  them  of  all  kinds  of  fruits.  I  made  me  pools  of 


ROAD  TO  HEBRON — SIPHEER. 


1 77 


water ,  to  water  therewith  the  wood  that  bringeth  fortn 
trees.”*  It  is  highly  probable,  that,  besides  other  pur¬ 
poses,  these  cisterns  were  intended  to  water  rich  gar¬ 
dens  in  their  vicinity ;  and  in  the  lower  parts  of  the  val¬ 
ley,  at  present  covered  with  ripe  crops  of  waving  grain, 
there  would  be  a  splendid  situation  for  the  gardens,  and 
orchards,  and  nurseries  of  fruit-trees,  which  The  Preacher 
describes.  In  Josephus  and  in  the  Talmud,  this  place  is 
called  Etham.f  The  former  says  concerning  it,  “  There 
was  a  certain  place  about  fifty  furlongs  distant  from  Je¬ 
rusalem  (more  than  six  miles)  which”  is  called  Etham ; 
very  pleasant  it  is  in  fine  gardens,  and  abounding  in  riv¬ 
ulets  of  water.  Thither  Solomon  used  to  ride  out  in  the 
morning.”^  Beautiful  insects,  especially  very  large  dra¬ 
gon-flies,  with  fine  variegated  wings,  were  fluttering 
round  the  water.  We  refreshed  ourselves  at  a  fountain 
close  by,  on  the  north-west  corner  of  the  upper  pool,  to 
which  we  descended  by  steps.  This  is  said  by  tradition 
to  be  “  the  spring  shut  up,  the  fountain  sealed,”  to  which 
the  church  is  compared  in  the  Song.§  It  was  usual  in 
former  times  to  cover  up  the  well’s  mouth  for  the  sake 
of  the  precious  living  water.  In  the  fields  around  the 
reapers  were  busy  at  barley-harvest.  It  was  somewhere 
near  this  very  spot  that  Naomi  found  them  reaping  as 
she  returned  from  the  captivity  of  Moab,  “  they  came  to 
Bethlehem  in  the  beginning  of  barley-harvest,”  ||  and 
some  of  these  fruitful  fields  may  have  been  the  field  of 
Boaz,  where  Ruth  gleaned  after  the  reapers,  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  Syrian  women  were  doing  when  we 
passed. 

_  After  leaving  the  pools,  the  road  conducted  us  for  some 
time  over  very  rocky  hills.  The  rude  mountain  track 
was  generally  lined  with  fragrant  shrubs  and  wild  flow¬ 
ers,  the  pink,  the  cistus,  of  a  fine  lilac  colour,  the  olean¬ 
der,  in  great  profusion  and  very  tall.  Among  the  trees 
the  Balut  or  evergreen  oak  was  by  far  the  most  fre¬ 
quent,  and  occasionally  our  well-known  honeysuckle 
hung  its  flowers  over  some  bush  or  shrub,  reminding  us 
of  home.  On  many  of  these  hills  we  could  distinctly  see 
that  the  brushwood  had  usurped  the  ancient  terraces 
made  for  the  vine.  We  came  to  a  considerable  valley, 
cultivated  to  some  extent,  at  the  extremity  of  which, 
where  the  ground  begins  to  rise  again,  is  a  village  called 
Sipheer.  Can  this  be  a  remnant  of  the  name  of  Kirjath- 

*  Eccl.  ii.  5,  6.  t  See  also  2  Chron.  xi.  6.  f  Antiq.  viii.  7.  3. 

§  Song  iv.  12.  ||  Ruth  i.  22. 

17* 


178 


V4T.LEY  OF  HEBRON. 


Sepher,  the  city  smitten  b}7-  Otbniel,  when  he  gained 
Achsah,  Caleb’s  daughter  7*  Perhaps  this  valley  may  be 
the  field  which  she  asked  from  her  father;  but  we  haa 
no  time  to  search  for  the  upper  and  the  nether  springs 
that  once  watered  it.  Other  travellers  have  found  sepul¬ 
chral  caves  there.  Ruins  occasionally  met  our  eye, 
chiefly  on  eminences,  the  remains  no  doubt  of  the  towns 
and  villages  of  Judah.  On  our  left  one  ruin  was  called 
‘  Bet-hagar,”  that  is,  “  house  of  stone,”  another  “  Bet- 
Immer,”  with  an  ancient  pool  still  remaining.  About  an 
hour  from  Hebron,  there  is  a  large,  and  evidently  much 
frequented  fountain,  named  Ain-Derwa.  Many  camels 
were  drinking  out  of  the  troughs,  and  our  horses  and 
mules  were  glad  to  join  them.  This  is  possibly  “  the 
well  of  Sir  ah,”  at  which  Abner  was  refreshing  himself 
when  Joab’s  messengers  found  him  and  treacherously 
brought  him  back  to  Hebron  to  be  slain. f 
We  had  now  spent  nearly  eight  hours  on  the  road, 
riding  very  leisurely.  About  two  miles  from  the  town 
we  entered  the  Valley  of  Hebron,  the  way  running 
through  vineyards  which  make  the  approach  very  plea¬ 
sant.  Fig-trees  and  pomegranates  in  great  abundance 
were  every  where  intermixed  with  the  vines,  and  the 
hills  above  were  covered  with  verdant  olive-trees.  The 
vines  were  in  great  luxuriance,  and  the  flowers  just 
forming  into  the  grape,  so  that  the  delightful  fragrance 
diffused  itself  far  and  wide.  “  The  fig-tree  putteth  forth 
her  green  figs,  and  the  vines  with  the  tender  grapes  give 
a  good  smell.”;):  In  many  of  the  vineyards  we  saw  the 
towers,  built  for  protection  and  for  other  uses,  and  fre¬ 
quently  referred  to  in  Scripture.  §  We  encamped  about 
four  o’clock  on  a  verdant  plot  of  ground  opposite  the 
northern  portion  of  Hebron,  pitching  our  tents  under 
some  fine  olive-trees.  Beauty  lingers  around  He¬ 
bron  still.  God  blesses  the  spot  where  he  used  to  meet 
with  Abraham  his  friend.  It  lies  in  a  fine  fertile  valley, 
enclosed  by  high  hills  on  the  east  and  west.  The  houses 
are  disposed  in  four  different  quarters,  which  are  sepa¬ 
rated  from  each  other  by  a  considerable  space.  The 
largest  portion  is  to  the  S.  E.  around  the  Mosque,  the 
houses  running  up  the  eastern  slope.  The  ruins  of  an¬ 
cient.  houses  are  still  higher  up.  The  fourfold  division 
of  the  town  gives  it  a  singular  appearance,  while  the 
cupolas  on  the  houses,  and  the  vigorous  olive-trees  that 

+  2  Sam.  iii.  26. 

$  Isa.  v.  2.  Matt.  xxi.  33. 


*  Josh.  xv.  16. 
t  Song  ii.  13. 


HEBRON— GOVERNOR— JEWISH  RABBI,  179 

are  interspersed  throughout  the  town,  add  greatly  to 
its  beauty.  Some  miles  north  of  the  town  we  passed 
four  bare  walls,  which  are  called  by  the  Jews  the  ruins 
of  Abraham’s  house,  and  the  plain  around  it  is  called  the 
Plain  of  Mamre.  We  felt  much  inclined,  however,  to 
believe  that  the  fine  valley  on  the  south-east  side  of  the 
town  is  the  true  plain  of  Mamre. 

The  Moslem  Governor,  hearing  of  the  arrival  of  the 
English  Consul,  sent  him  the  present  of  a  sheep,  and 
soon  after  waited  upon  us.  Mr.  Nicolayson  acted  as  in¬ 
terpreter.  When  the  Consul  thanked  him  for  his  kind 
present,  he  replied,  “  It  is  all  the  blessing  of  Abraham. 
It  is  only  what  should  be  done  in  the  city  of  El-Halil. 
Had  Abraham  been  here  he  would  have  sent  a  sheep  or 
a  calf,  and  we  are  in  Abraham’s  stead.”  The  Arabic 
name  of  the  town  is  El-Halil,  “  the  beloved,”  so  called  in 
memory  of  Abraham,  “  the  friend  of  God.” 

An  old  Jew,  Rabbi  Haiim,  who  is  now  blind  with  age, 
nearing  of  the  arrival  of  Nr.  Nicolayson,  sent  him  an  oka 
of  wine  in  token  of  respect  and  kindness.  This  little  in¬ 
cident  in  the  city  where  Abraham  dwelt  was  peculiarly 
affecting,  and  showed  in  a  very  clear  light  the  friendly 
feelings  which  the  Jews  of  Palestine  entertain  towards 
Protestant  Missionaries,  though  fully  aware  of  the  object 
which  they  have  in  view.  A  Greek  Christian,  named 
Elias,  who  was  acquainted  with  our  fellow-travellers, 
showed  us  great  attention. 

When  the  darkness  came  down,  we  saw  some  fine 
specimens  of  the  glow-worm  around  our  tents.  Over¬ 
head,  the  sky  was  splendid;  the  stars  being  unusually 
large  and  brilliant  from  the  clearness  of  the  atmosphere. 
For  the  same  reason,  many  more  stars  are  visible  to  the 
naked  eye  than  in  our  northern  sky.  We  recollected 
that  it  was  here,  in  the  plain  of  Mamre,  under  the  same 
sky,  that  God  “  brought  Abraham  forth  abroad,  and  said, 
Look  toward  heaven,  and  tell  the  stars,  if  thou  be  able 
to  number  them:  so  shall  thy  seed  be.”*  The  same 
sight  recalled  with  new  power  the  gracious  promise, 
“  They  that  be  wise  shall  shine  as  the  brightness  of  the 
firmament,  and  they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness  as 
the  stars  for  ever  and  ever.”  f 

We  all  met  for  evening  worship  in  one  tent.  Mr. 
Nicolayson  read  Genesis  xviii,  and  prayed  with  a  full 
heart  for  Israel,  that  they  to  whom  the  promises  were 
made  might  soon  enjoy  the  Redeemer’s  communion  as 
*  Gen.  xv.  5.  +  Dan.  xii.  3. 


180  HEBRON — THE  MOSOUE — MACHPELAH. 

Abraham  enjoyed  it  here;  and  that  we  might  receive 
Abraham’s  spirit  of  intercession  for  a  perishing  world. 

(June  14.)  This  morning  we  awoke  early,  and  tried  to 
realize  the  feelings  of  a  true  child  of  Abraham  in  Hebron, 
meditating  over  all  the  Scriptures  that  relate  to  it.  The 
deep  terraces  of  the  mountain  afford  sweet  spots  for  re¬ 
tirement. 

We  had  scarcely  breakfasted  when  the  Governor  paid 
us  a  second  visit,  offering  to  conduct  us  to  see  the 
mosque,  which  is  believed  to  cover  the  cave  of  Machpelah. 
The  appearance  of  this  man  in  the  midst  ot  his  attend¬ 
ants  was  any  thing  but  prepossessing.  He  was  an  ill- 
looking  Moslem,  an  oldish  man,  with  fine  grey  beard, 
very  marked  nose,  and  dark  suspicious  eyes.  The  duty 
of  paying  attention  to  Christian  travellers  seemed  to  be 
a  very  irksome  one  to  his  Mahometan  pride.  He  brought 
two  sheep  with  him  as  a  present  to  the  Consul,  doubling 
the  gift  of  the  previous  day. 

We  proceeded  toward  the  Mosque,  the  Consul’s  janis¬ 
sary  going  before.  Several  Jews  joined  in  the  train. 
As  we  passed  through  the  streets,  the  boys  and  girls 
cried  Nazar ani,  teaching  us  that  “  the  Nazarene”  is  still 
a  term  of  reproach  in  this  land.  The  Mosque  is  a  large 
quadrangular  building,  with  two  minarets  at  the  opposite 
corners."  The  lower  half  of  the  walls  is  evidently  of  the 
highest  antiquity ;  the  stones  are  very  large,  and  each 
of  them  is  bevelled  in  the  edge,  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  ancient  stones  of  the  temple  wall  of  Jerusalem.  One 
stone  which  we  measured  was  24  feet  by  4,  and  another 
was  still  larger.  On  the  two  principal  sides  there  are 
sixteen  pilasters,  on  the  other  two  sides  ten,  composed 
of  these  immense  stones,  with  a  simple  projecting  cope 
at  the  top.  Above  this,  the  buiding  is  evidently  of  Ma¬ 
hometan  origin,  and  is  surmounted  by  a  battlement. 
We  were  allowed  to  ascend  the  wide  massy  staircase 
that  leads  into  the  interior  of  the  building.  The  door  in¬ 
to  the  mosque  was  thrown  open,  but  not  a  foot  was  al¬ 
lowed  to  cross  the  marble  threshold.  We  were  shown 
the  window  of  the  place  which  contains  the  tombs  of 
Abraham  and  Sarah,  beneath  which  is  understood  to  be 
the  cave  of  Machpelah.  There  is  none  of  the  sacred 
places  over  which  the  Moslems  keep  so  jealous  a  watch 
as  the  tomb  of  Abraham.  It  was  esteemed  a  very  pecu¬ 
liar  favour  that  we  had  been  admitted  thus  far,  travellers 
in  general  being  forbidden  to  approach  even  the  door  of 
the  Mosque.  A  letter  from  the  Governor  of  Jerusalem 


TOMBS  IN  THE  MOSQUE.  181 

who  had  been  with  us  on  the  evening  before  we  set  out, 
gained  us  this  privilege. 

A  little  farther  on,  we  were  permitted  to  look  through 
a  window,  where  we  saw  one  of  the  tombs  covered  with 
a  rich  carpet  of  green  silk.  This  is  called  the  Tomb  of 
Joseph,  although  we  know  from  Scripture  that  Joseph 
was  not  buried  here,  but  at  Shechem.*  The  only  persons 
mentioned  in  Scripture  as  buried  at  Machpelah  are 
Abraham  and  Sarah,  Isaac  and  Rebecca,  Jacob  and 
Leah.f  The  Jews  believe  that  this  remarkable  building 
is  one  of  the  works  of  Solomon ;  and  from  the  peculiar 
form  of  the  building,  and  the  great  size  of  the  stones, 
there  seems  every  probability  that  it  is  of  Hebrew  origin. 
It  is  by  no  means  improbable,  that  it  was  built  by  the 
Jews  to  keep  in  remembrance  the  burying-place  of  the 
father  of  their  nation  and  the  friend  of  God.  The  Jews 
at  present  are  permitted  only  to  look  through  a  hole 
near  the  entrance,  and  to  pray  with  their  face  toward 
the  grave  of  Abraham. 

After  leaving  this,  we  climbed  the  highest  hill  to  the 
south-east  of  Hebron,  to  obtain,  if  possible,  that  view  of 
the  plain  of  Sodom  which  Abraham  had  on  that  morning 
when  it  was  destroyed  from  heaven.  In  the  valley,  we 
passed  with  some  difficulty  through  the  vineyards,  re¬ 
galed  by  the  delightful  fragrance.  "At  one  part  we  came 
upon  a  company  of  villagers  treading  out  their  corn ; 
live  oxen  were  employed  on  one  floor.  Some  of  the  vil¬ 
lagers  also  were  winnowing  what  had  been  trodden  out, 
and  others  were  passing  the  grain  through  a  sieve  to 
separate  it  from  the  dust.  We  remembered  Amos  ix.  9. 
This  valley  is  called  Wady  Nazarah,  “  the  valley  of  the 
Nazarenes,”  for  what  reason  we  could  not  ascertain. 
The  sides  of  the  hill  were  very  rocky  and  slippery,  but 
the  top  was  covered  with  vines.  We  sat  down  under 
the  shade  of  some  bushes,  and  calmly  contemplated  the 
fine  view  on  every  side.  The  town,  divided  into  four 
parts,  lay  immediately  beneath  us.  The  pool,  the 
mosque,  the  flat  roofs,  the  domes,  were  all  distinctly 
marked.  The  vineyards  stretch  up  the  hills  beautifully, 
and  groves  of  deep  green  olives  enclose  it  on  every  side.. 
Hebron  is  embosomed  in  hills.  The  more  ancient  houses 
are  on  the  east  side  of  the  valley,  and  there  are  traces  of 
ruins  running  up  the  hill  behind  Machpelah.  The  ancient 
town  is  supposed  by  some  to  have  been  built  more  upon 


*  Acta  vii.  16. 


t  Gen.  xlix.  31 ;  1.  13. 


182 


HEBRON. 


the  hill  where  the  mosque  stands,  and  if  so,  the  tradition 
of  the  rabbis  is  not  altogether  absurd,  that  the  rays  of 
the  rising  sun  gilding  the  towers  of  Hebron  used  to  be 
seen  from  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  and  gave  the  sign 
of  the  time  for  killing  the  morning  sacrifice.  Hebron 
was  also  one  of  the  Refuge  cities,  and  therefore  probably 
conspicuous  from  afar.  Looking  to  the  south,  over  a 
high  ridge  of  hills,  the  eye  stretches  into  a  wilderness- 
land  of  vast  extent.  In  that  direction  lay  Carmel ,  where 
Nabal  fed  his  flocks  *  But  the  most  interesting  view  of 
all  was  toward  the  east,  not  on  account  of  its  beauty, 
but  on  account  of  its  being  in  all  probability  the  view 
which  Abraham  had  when  he  “  looked  toward  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah,  and  toward  all  the  land  of  the  plain,  and 
beheld,  and  lo  the  smoke  of  the  country  went  up  as  the 
smoke  of  a  furnace.”  f  A  high  ridge  intercepts  the  view 
of  the  Dead  Sea,  but  the  deep  valley  formed  by  it,  and 
the  hills  of  Moab  on  the  other  side,  are  clearly  seen.  If 
Abraham  stood  on  the  hill  where  we  were  now  standing, 
then  he  saw  not  the  plain  itself,  but  “  the  smoke  of  the 
country  rising  up”  as  from  a  furnace.  If  he  saw  the 
plain,  then  he  must  have  stood  on  that  intervening  ridge 
nearer  the  Dead  Sea. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  it  was  in  this  direction 
that  Abraham  led  the  three  angelic  men  on  their  way 
toward  Sodom,  and  we  felt  it  a  solemn  thing  to  stand 
where  Abraham  drew  near  and  pleaded  with  the  Lord, 
“  Wilt  thou  also  destroy  the  righteous  with  the  wicked  1” 
What  wonders  of  mercy  and  judgment  these  mountains 
have  seen ! 

Returning  to  the  town,  we  visited  the  large  Pool  of 
Hebron.  It  is  quite  entire,  of  solid  and  ancient  masonry, 
and  measures  133  feet  square.  This  is  no  doubt  the 
pool  over  which  David  ^commanded  the  hands  and  feet 
of  the  murderers  of  Ishbosheth  to  be  hung  up.t  There  is 
another  pool  in  the  town,  but  not  so  large.  We  then 
visited  the  Tomb  of  Othniel,  a  sepulchre  cut  out  in  the 
rock,  with  nine  niches.  We  plucked  hyssop  from  the 
crevices  of  the  outer  wall.  \  It  grows  in  small  stalks, 
with  thickly-set  leaves.  We  visited  several  other  sepul¬ 
chres  near  the  town  ;  in  the  town  itself  is  shown  what  is 
pretended  to  be  the  tomb  of  Abner,  and  of  Jesse,  the  father 
of  David,  and  even  that  of  Esau.  In  the  streets,  mothers 
were  carrying  their  children  on  the  shoulder ;  ||  some  of 

*  1  Sam.  xxv.  2.  t  Gen.  xix.  28.  t  2  Sam.  iv.  12. 

§  1  Kings  iv.  33.  ||  Isa.  xlix.  22. 


SPANISH  AND  POLISH  SYNAGOGUES — RABBI  HAIIM.  183 

whom  had  their  eyes  painted  with  stibium  *  and  all  of 
them  had  anklets,  answering  to  Isaiah’s  “  tinkling  orna¬ 
ments  about  the  feet.”  f 

In  the  afternoon,  we  paid  a  visit  to  the  Jewish  quarter. 
We  were  told  that  there  are  about  eighty  German  and 
Polish  Jews  in  this  place.  They  have  two  synagogues  ; 
one  belonging  to  the  Spanish,  the  other  to  the  Polish 
Jews.  We  first  visited  the  Spanish  synagogue,  the  larger 
of  the  two.  It  is  not  more  than  forty  feet  in  length,  and 
though  clean,  is  but  poorly  furnished.  The  seats  were 
half-broken  benches,  reminding  us  of  some  of  our  ne¬ 
glected  country  churches.  The  lamps  were  of  orna¬ 
mented  brass ;  the  reading-desk  nothing  more  than  an 
elevated  pait  of  the  floor  railed  in.  There  was  nothin0* 
atti active  about  the  ark;  and  the  only  decorations  were 
the  usual  silver  ornaments  on  the  rolls  of  the  law,  and  a 
few  verses  in  Hebrew  written  on  the  curtain  and  on  the 
walls.  Fourteen  children  were  seated  on  the  floor,  with 
bright  sparkling  eyes,  getting  a  lesson  in  Hebrew  from 
an  old  Jew.  The  Polish  synagogue  was  even  poorer 
than  the  Spanish.  It  had  no  reading-desk  at  all,  but  only 
a  stand  for  the  books.  However,  it  surpassed  the  other 
in  its  lamps,  all  of  which  were  elegant ;  and  one  of  them 
of  silver, — the  gift  of  Asher  Bensamson,  a  Jew  in  London, 
who  sent  the  money  for  it  to  Jerusalem,  where  the  lamp 
was  made. 

.  Leaving  the  synagogue,  we  stepped  into  one  of  the 
yishvioth  or  reading-rooms.  The  books  were  not  well 
kept,  not  even  clean — the  dust  was  lying  thick  on  some 
of  them,  and  only  two  persons  were  studying  in  the  room. 
There  are  three  more  of  these  reading-rooms  in  Hebron! 

We  next  found  our  way  to  the  house  of  the  old  blind 
Rabbi  Haiim,  who  had  sent  the  present  of  wine  on  our 
arrival.  We  were  very  kindly  received  in  the  outer  court 
of  his  house,  where  we  were  invited  to  sit  down,  and  had 
an  interesting  interview  with  this  aged  Jew.  He  had 
come  to  this  land  when  twenty-four  years  of  age,  and 
had  spent  fifty  years  in  it.  Like  Isaac,  his  eyes  had  be¬ 
come  dim,  so  that  he  could  not  see.  About  a  dozen 
Jews  and  as  many  children  gathered  round  us,  while 
several  Jewesses  stood  at  a  little  distance  listening  in 
silence  to  the  conversation.  Mr.  Nicolayson  conversed 
freely  with  them,  told  the  errand  upon  which  we  had 
come,  and  stated  the  desire  and  aim  of  Christians  in  re¬ 
gard  to  their  salvation.  We  were  glad  to  be  permitted 


*  Ezek.  xxiii.  40. 


t  Isa.  iii.  18. 


184 


HEBRON — ABRAHAM’S  OAK, 


thus  to  meet  with  Israel  In  their  own  land.  They  brought 
us  sherbet  and  water.  We  remarked  that  the  dress  of 
the  Jewish  women  is  peculiarly  graceful,  and  they  have 
tine  pleasant  countenances.  Many  of  them  wear  rich 
ornaments  even  when  engaged  in  domestic  duties. 

In  the  evening,  we  rode  out  of  the  town  to  see  Abra¬ 
ham’s  Oak,  about  a  mile  to  the  north-west.  It  is  an  im¬ 
mense  spreading  oak,  admitted  to  be  one  of  the  largest 
trees  in  Palestine,  and  very  old.  Possibly  it  occupies  the 
site  of  that  tree  which  Jerome  saw  pointed  out  in  his 
days  as  Abraham’s  Oak.  We  found  the  spread  of  its 
branches  to  be  256  feet  in  circumference,  and  81  feet  in 
diameter.  Round  the  narrowest  part  of  the  trunk,  we 
measured  22  feet  9  inches,  and  at  the  point  where  the 
branches  separate,  25  feet  9  inches.  It  was  under  such 
a  tree  that  Abraham  pitched  his  tent,  when  “  he  came  and 
dwelt  under  the  oaks  of  Mamre  which  is  in  Hebron.”  * 
And  it  was  under  such  a  tree  that  he  spread  refresh¬ 
ment  for  his  heavenly  guests. f  The  ride  from  this  tree 
to  the  town  is  through  vineyards  of  the  most  rich  and 
fertile  description,  each  one  having  a  tower  in  the  midst 
for  the  keeper  of  the  vineyard.  We  were  told  that 
bunches  of  grapes  from  these  vineyards  sometimes  weigh 
6  lb.,  every  grape  of  which  weighs  6  or  7  drams.  Sir 
Moses  Montefiore  mentioned,  that  he  got  here  a  bunch 
of  grapes  about  a  yard  in  length.  Such  a  bunch  the 
spies  carried  on  a  staff  betwixt  two.  In  Hebron,  there 
are  1330  Mahometans  who  pay  taxes,  about  200  who  do 
not  pay ;  add  to  this  700  Jews.  At  the  usual  average  of 
Eastern  families,  this  will  give  less  than  10,000  inhabi¬ 
tants. 

(June  15.)  We  broke  up  our  encampment  this  morning 
by  the  dawn,  and  enjoyed  a  splendid  sunrise.  We  left 
the  vale  of  Hebron  and  its  verdant  vines  with  regret, 
traversing  the  same  road  which  we  had  come.  In  four 
hours  we  came  down  upon  the  pools  of  Solomon.  Here 
we  turned  off  to  the  right,  winding  round  the  hills,  and 
following  the  course  of  the  old  aqueduct  that  carried 
water  into  Jerusalem.  At  this  point,  a  small  but  beauti¬ 
ful  and  verdant  valley  lay  beneath  us,  called  by  the  Arabs 
“ElTos,”“the  cup,”  from  its  appearance.  This  may 
have  been  one  of  the  spots  where  David  loved  to  wander 
with  his  sheep,  and  where  he  meditated  such  Psalms  as 
the  23d,  “  He  maketh  me  to  lie  down  in  green  pastures  : 
he  leadeth  me  beside  the  still  waters.”!  A  gentle  brook 

*  Gen.  xiii.  18  See  the  Hebrew.  t  Gen.  xviii.  8.  t  Ps.  xxii.  2. 


THE  WELL  OF  BETHLEHEM, 


185 


meanders  through  the  bottom  of  the  valley.  There  is 
also  an  ancient  village  with  well  cultivated  gardens. 
Due  east  of  us,  the  Frank  Mountain,  with  its  sloping 
sides  and  flat  top,  formed  the  most  prominent  object.  If 
this  be  Beth-haccerem,  a  more  suitable  place  for  a  signal 
of  fire  could  not  be  imagined.*  As  we  approached  Beth¬ 
lehem,  the  hills  were  well  terraced,  and  vines  and  figs 
abounded.  The  towers  in  the  vineyards  appeared  to  us 
more  numerous  than,  usual.  Bethlehem  stands  on  the 
top  of  a  hill,  on  the  south  side  steep  and  rocky.  The 
white  limestone  rocks  were  like  marble,  and  reflected 
the  sun’s  rays,  so  as  to  be  very  painful  to  the  eyes.  They 
were  also  so  slippery,  that  we  found  it  safer  to  go  up  on 
foot. 

When  near  the  top  we  came  upon  “  the  well  that  is  by 
the  gate  of  Bethlehem.”  It  is  protected  by  a  piazza  of 
four  small  arches,  under  which  the  water  is  drawn  up 
through  two  apertures.f  Several  people  were  under  this 
porch,  and  one  had  descended  the  well  to  clean  it  out, 
so  that  we  longed  in  vain  for  a  draught  of  the  water 
which  David  desired  so  earnestly.  The  situation  of  this 
well  would  suit  exactly  the  description  given  in  Chroni¬ 
cles,!  and  the  direction  of  the  supposed  geographical  po¬ 
sition  of  the  cave  of  Adullam,  to  the  south-east  of  Beth¬ 
lehem,  over  the  hill  of  Tekoah.  We  felt  it  interesting  to 
realize  the  scene.  The  hosts  of  the  Philistines  were'en- 
camped  in  the  valley  of  Rephaim  ;  their  garrison  was  at 
Bethlehem,  and  David  was  in  the  cave  of  Adullam.  In 
the  burning  heat  of  noon-day,  he  looked  toward  the  hill 
that  lay  between  him  and  his  native  town,  and  casually 
exclaimed,  “Oh  that  one  would  give  me  drink  of  the 
water  of  the  well  of  Bethlehem,  that  is  at  the  gate !”  His 
three  mightiest  captains  instantly  resolve  to  express  their 
love  to  their  chief,  and  their  devotion  to  the  cause  of  God, 
by  putting  their  lives  in  jeopardy,  in  drawing  some  of 
the  water  of  this  deep  well,  even  under  the  darts  of  their 
enemies.  “  And  the  three  brake  through  the  host  of  the 
Philistines,  and  drew  water  out  of  the  well  of  Bethlehem, 
that  was  by  the  gate,  and  took  it,  and  brought  it  to  David.” 

The  white  stone  of  which  the  hill  is  composed,  and  of 


*  Jer.  vi.  1. 

t  Professor  Robinson  thinks  that  these  are  only  openings  over  the 
aqueduct  which  here  passes  through  a  deep  vault  or  reservoir,  and  that 
there  is  no  well  of  living  water  in  or  near  the  town;  vol.  ii.  p.  163. 

I  1  Chron.  xi.  17. 


18 


186 


BETHLEHEM — LATIN  CONVENT. 


which  the  town  is  built,  makes  it  very  hot,  and  gives  it 
a  dusty  appearance.  The  fig-trees,  olives,  and  pome¬ 
granates,  and  the  ripe  barley  fields  which  cover  the  north 
side,  show  that  it  is  still  capable  of  being  made  what  its 
name  signifies,  “  The  House  of  Bread.”  At  present, 
however,  the  plague  was  raging  in  Bethlehem,  and  we 
could  not  find  bread  even  in  the  bazaar,  so  that  we  had 
to  seek  for  food  at  the  Latin  Convent.  This  convent  is 
a  very  substantial  building,  like  a  castle.  Its  outer  gate 
is  very  low,  intended,  it  is  said,  in  former  days,  to  pre¬ 
vent  the  Arabs  riding  in  to  plunder.  Some  have  sup¬ 
posed  that  there  is  reference  to  this  custom  in  the  Pro¬ 
verb,  “  He  that  exalteth  his  gate  seeketh  destruction.”  * 
But  this  may  more  probably  refer  to  the  proud  and 
wealthy  enlarging  their  gate  after  the  manner  of  a  palace ; 
for  we  can  hardly  imagine  that  the  Arab  plunderers 
entered  the  houses  of  Israel  in  the  time  of  Solomon.  The 
church,  generally  supposed  to  have  been  built  by  Helena, 
A.  D.  326,  is  a  fine  spacious  building,  and  the  rows  of 
Corinthian  columns  are  substantial  masses  of  granite. 
It  was  delightful  to  repose  a  while  in  the  cool  atmosphere 
of  this  venerable  pile ;  but  the  monks  who  seemed  to  be 
ignorant  and  unpolished  men,  would  have  us  away  to 
see  the  sacred  places  of  the  Nativity.  We  descended  to 
the  grotto,  which  they  call  the  stable  where  our  Lord 
was  born.  Here  they  showed  a  marble  manger  as  the 
place  where  the  heavenly  babe  was  laid ;  but  they  had 
the  honesty  to  allow  that  “this  was  not  the  original 
manger,  though  the  spot  was  the  same.”  They  showed 
the  stone  where  Mary  sat,  and  pointed  to  a  silver  star 
as  marking  the  spot  where  the  Saviour  was  born.  The 
star  is  intended  to  represent  that  which  “stood  over 
where  the  young  child  was.”  The  grotto  is  illumined 
by  many  handsome  lamps,  and  there  are  several  paint¬ 
ings  by  the  first  artists.  Yet  all  is  only  a  miserable  pro¬ 
fanation  ;  like  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  it  called 
up  in  our  bosoms  no  other  feelings  than  disgust  and  in¬ 
dignation.  If  this  cave  was  really  the  place  of  the  na¬ 
tivity,  then  Popery  has  successfully  contrived  to  remove 
out  of  sight  the  humiliation  of  the  stable  and  the  manger. 
“  The  mystery  of  iniquity,”  which  pretends  to  honour, 
and  yet  so  effectually  conceals  both  the  obedience  of 
Christ  which  he  began  at  Bethlehem,  and  the  sufferings 
of  Christ  which  he  accomplished  at  Calvary,  has  with  no 
less  success  disfigured  and  concealed  the  places  where 

*  Prov.  xvii.  19. 


VIEW  FROM  THE  CONVENT. 


187 


these  wonders  were  “  seen  of  angels.”  Though  the  tra¬ 
dition  that  Christ  was  born  in  this  cave  is  of  the  highest 
antiquity,  yet  there  seems  no  doubt,  from  the  simple 
words  of  the  Gospel  narrative,  that  it  cannot  be  the  true 
place,  for  it  is  said,  “She  wrapped  him  in  swaddling 
clothes  and  laid  him  in  a  manger,  because  there  was  no 
room  for  them  in  the  inn.”  *  There  is  no  evidence  that 
the  stable  of  an  eastern  khan  was  ever  in  a  grotto  cut 
out  of  the  rock. 

We  were  conducted  to  another  cavern  in  the  rock, 
further  to  the  east,  where  the  monks  said  that  the  Vir¬ 
gin  Mary  lived.  But  we  enjoyed  far  more  a  visit  to  the 
roof  of  the  convent,  where  we  could  breathe  the  pure 
air,  and  look  up  to  the  deep  blue  sky,  and  down  upon 
the  fields  and  valleys  around  Bethlehem.  These  are  still 
the  same  as  in  the  night  when  the  angel  of  the  Lord  pro¬ 
claimed,  “  Fear  not,  for  behold,  I  bring  you  good  tidings 
of  great  joy,  which  shall  be  to  all  people.”  f  It  filled  us 
with  unmingled  pleasure  to  gaze  upon  the  undulating 
hills  and  valleys  stretched  out  at  our  feet,  for  we  were 
sure  that  among  these  David  had  often  wandered  with 
his  flock,  and  in  some  of  them  the  shepherds  had  heard 
the  voice  that  brought  the  tidings  of  a  Saviour  born. 
Nearly  due  south  lay  a  prominent  hill  about  six  miles 
distant,  which  we  were  told  was  the  hill  of  Tehoah,  giv¬ 
ing  name  also  to  the  wilderness  around.  The  withered 
sides  of  this  hill  were  once  traversed  by  the  prophet 
Amos,  along  with  the  herdmen  that  fed  their  cattle 
there.];  But  we  saw  neither  flock  nor  herd.  One  inter¬ 
esting  association  connected  with  this  convent  is,  that 
Jerome  lived  and  died  here.  His  eyes  daily  looked  upon 
this  scene,  and  here  he  translated  the  Word  of  God  into 
Latin.  We  did  not,  however,  find  in  the  convent  any 
one  who  seemed  to  have  inherited  the  industry  or  learn¬ 
ing  of  Father  Jerome. 

Remounting  our  horses,  we  bade  farewell  to  our  monk¬ 
ish  friends,  and  wound  slowly  down  the  northern  slope 
of  Bethlehem,  amongst  vineyards  and  barley  fields, 
where  the  reapers  were  engaged  as  in  the  days  when 
Ruth  and  Naomi  returned  from  the  land  of  Moab.  We 
soon  arrived  at  the  well  of  the  Magi,  where  the  Holy  City 
comes  in  view.  We  could  not  but  linger  at  the  spot. 
Behind  us  lay  Bethlehem,  before  us  Jerusalem; — on  the 
one  hand,  the  spot  where  the  love  of  God  was  first  made 
manifest ;  on  the  other,  the  spot  where  that  love  was 
completed  in  Immanuers  death ; — on  the  one  hand  the 
Luke  ii.  7.  t  Luke  ii.  10.  t  Amos  i. 


188 


VIEW  OF  JERUSALEM. 


spot  where  Jesus  was  bom ;  on  the  other,  the  spot  where 
Jesus  died  !  This  is  the  route  by  which  Tasso’s  pilgrims* 
are  represented  as  approaching  and  getting  their  first 
view  of  the  Holy  City.  When  they  see  the  minarets, 
the  domes  and  bulwarks  of  the  city,  they  burst  out  into 
a  cry  of  ecstasy — 

Ecco  apparir  Gierusalem  si  vede, 

Ecco  additar  Gierusalem  si  scorge, 

Ecco  da  mille  voci  unitamente, 

Gierusalem  salutare  si  sente. 

(“Behold  Jerusalem  in  prospect  lies! 

Behold  Jerusalem  salutes  their  eyes ! 

At  once  a  thousand  tongues  repeat  the  name, 

And  hail  Jerusalem  with  loud  acclaim.”  *) 

The  view  of  Jerusalem  from  the  south  is  not  nearly  so 
desolate  as  the  view  from  the  western  approach ;  still, 
when  seen  from  afar,  it  is  “  like  a  cottage  in  a  vineyard, 
like  a  lodge  in  a  garden  of  cucumbers.”  f  Hardly  any 
thing  is  visible  but  the  bare  wall  with  its  battlement, 
surrounding  you  see  not  what.  Coming  near  we  were 
startled  by  the  depth  of  Hinnom,  with  its  rocks  and  caves, 
and  by  the  bold  front  of  Zion. 

We  had  scarcely  seated  ourselves  at  Mr.  Nicolayson’s 
hospitable  board,  when  letters  from  home  were  put  into 
our  hands,  the  first  that  we  had  received  since  our  de¬ 
parture.  It  was  truly  refreshing  to  hear  that  all  our 
friends  were  well,  and  our  flocks  not  left  uncared  for.  One 
of  our  letters  brought  the  news  that  the  Auchterarder 
case  had  been  decided  against  our  Church  in  the  House 
of  Lords.  We  all  felt  it  a  solemn  thing  to  receive  such 
tidings  in  Jerusalem.  They  seemed  to  intimate  a  time 
of  coming  trial  to  the  Church  of  Scotland.  The  time 
seemed  to  be  come  when  judgment  must  begin  at  the 
house  of  God  in  Scotland ;  and  we  called  to  mind  the 
clear  intimations  of  prophecy,  that  “  there  shall  be  a  time 
of  trouble  such  as  never  was  since  there  was  a  nation ,” 
at  the  very  time  when  Israel  shall  be  delivered.  We 
closed  our  Saturday  evening  together,  by  reading  the 
2d  chapter  of  Luke, 

(June  16.  Sabbath.)  We  had  agreed  beforehand  to 
meet  together  this  day,  and  join  in  the  communion  of  the 
Lord’s  Supper.  It  was  therefore  with  feelings  of  sacred 
interest  that  we  saw  the  dawn  of  a  Sacrament-Sabbath 
in  Jerusalem.  The  solemn  scenes  which  we  had  wit¬ 
nessed  during  the  week — Calvary,  Gethsemane,  Bethany, 

*  Canto  3,  3.  t  Isa.  i.  8. 


JERUSALEM — THE  LORD’S  SUPPER. 


189 


and  Bethlehem,  were  well  fitted  to  attune  our  hearts  to  par¬ 
take  of  the  sacred  ordinance.  In  walking  through  the 
streets  and  the  crowded  bazaar  to  the  Consul’s  house, 
which  was  the  place  of  meeting,  we  felt  a  peculiarly 
vivid  reality  in  the  truth,  that  it  was  for  common  sinners 
such  as  these  now  walking  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem, 
and  ourselves  among  the  rest,  that  Jesus  died.  It  was 
for  souls  nowise  more  exalted  by  nature,  or  more  worthy 
of  his  love,  than  the  present  inhabitants,  that  “  God  was 
manifest  in  flesh.”  How  strange !  how  passing  know¬ 
ledge  does  the  love  of  Christ  appear  in  such  a  view ! 
How  free  the  way  to  the  Father  tor  the  chief  of  sinners ; 
and  how  personal  the  application  of  redemption  !  Had 
Christ  met  one  of  us  that  day  upon  the  streets  of  Jerusa¬ 
lem,  he  would  have  said,  “  Wilt  thou  be  made  whole  1” 
We  met  in  the  same  upper  room  where  we  had  met 
last  Sabbath.  There  were  fourteen  gathered  together, 
including  two  converted  Jews,  and  a  Christian  from  Na¬ 
zareth,  who  had  been  brought  to  know  the  truth  under 
the  American  missionaries.  It  was  a  time  of  refreshing 
from  the  presence  of  the  Lord.  After  the  usual  morning 
prayers  of  the  Church  of  England,  Mr.  Nicolayson 
preached  on  1  John  i.  3,  “  Truly  our  fellowship  is  with  the 
Father,  and  with  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,”  with  fervent 
simplicity.  Dr.  Keith  joined  with  him  in  administering 
the  broken  bread  and  poured  out  wine.  In  the  evening, 
Mr.  Bonar  preached  from  John  xiv.  2,  3,  “  In  my  Father’s 
house  are  many  mansions,”  &c.,  on  the  believer’s  desire 
to  be  with  Christ,  and  Christ’s  desire  to  be  with  his  people. 
Feelings  of  deepest  solemnity  filled  our  hearts,  while  we 
worshipped  in  an  upper  room,  after  such  a  feast,  where 
we  had  been  showing  the  Lord’s  death  “  till  he  come”  * 
and  “  his  feet  stand  upon  the  Mount  of  Olives.”  f  And 
it  was  with  more  than  ordinary  fervour  that  we  joined 
in  the  prayer  that  Israel  might  soon  have  their  solemn 
feasts  restored  to  them,  and  the  ways  of  Zion  no  longer 
mourn,  and  that  even  now  the  Holy  Spirit,  who,  in  this 
city,  came  down  on  the  apostles,  would  again  descend  on 
us,  and  on  all  the  churches.  After  singing  together  the 
last  part  of  the  116th  Psalm,  we  separated.  On  our  way 
to  our  home  on  Mount  Zion,  we  gazed  upon  the  Mount 
of  Olives,  on  which  the  last  rays  of  the  evening  sun  were 
pouring  their  golden  lustre,  and  remembered  how,  after 
the  first  Lord’s  Supper,  Jesus  went  out  there  to  his  ago- 


*  1  Cor.  xi.  26. 


18* 


t  Zecli.  xiv.  4. 


190 


JERUSALEM — CABTLE  OF  DAVID. 


ny  in  Gethsemane ;  and  how  from  the  other  side  of  that 
mountain  he  was  “  received  up  into  heaven.” 

(June  17.)  This  morning  at  six  o’clock,  we  attended 
the  Hebrew  service  in  the  Mission-house.  Mr.  Nicolay- 
son  read  the  Liturgy  in  Hebrew,  in  a  very  beautiful 
manner,  Mr.  Bergheim,  Simeon,  and  ourselves  respond¬ 
ing.  It  was  truly  interesting  to  hear  the  holy  tongue 
made  use  of  in  believing  prayer  in  the  name  of  Jesus. 
The  greater  part  of  this  day  was  devoted  to  making  up 
our  journals,  and  writing  letters  to  Scotland. 

In  the  afternoon,  we  visited  the  Castle  of  David,  the 
only  stronghold  now  remaining  upon  Mount  Zion.  It  is 
a  little  to  the  south  of  the  Jaffa  Gate,  and  overhangs  the 
vale  of  Gihon.  The  lower  part  of  one  of  the  towers  is 
evidently  of  great  antiquity.  The  stones  are  very  large, 
and  bevelled  in  their  edges,  and  we  were  told  that  it  is 
perfectly  solid.  This  is  believed  to  be  the  tower  of  Hip- 
picus,  said  by  Josephus  to  be  one  mass  (  oiddfiov  tilClKEVOs')) 
and  which  was  spared  by  Titus  when  the  temple  and 
city  were  destroyed.  May  it  not  be  still  more  ancient, 
the  site  at  least  of  “  the  stronghold  of  Zion”  which  David 
took  from  the  Jebusites?  *  Or  “  the  tower  of  David,”  to 
which  the  neck  of  the  Church  is  compared,  “  Thy  neck 
is  like  the  tower  of  David  builded  for  an  armory  !”  f  De¬ 
scending  into  the  vale  of  Hinnom,  we  tried  to  sketch  the 
steep  view  of  Mount  Zion ;  then  returning,  gathered 
several  specimens  of  the  Spina  Christ i.  This  plant, 
called  Nabka  by  the  Arabs,  grows  abundantly  on  the 
hills  of  Jerusalem;  the  branches  are  very  pliable,  so  as 
easily  to  be  platted  into  a  crown,  while  the  thorns  are 
very  many,  and  sharp,  and  about  an  inch  in  length. 
The  tradition  seems  highly  probable,  that  this  was  "the 
plant  of  which  the  Roman  soldiers  platted  a  crown  of 
thorns  for  the  brow  of  Christ.  \ 

Towards  evening,  we  visited  that  part  of  the  Old 
Temple  wall  to  which  the  Jews  are  allowed  to  go,  that 
they  may  pray  and  weep  over  the  glory  that  is  departed. 
It  is  a  part  of  the  western  enclosure  of  the  Haram,  and 
the  access  to  it  is  by  narrow  and  lonely  streets.  The 
Jew  who  was  our  guide,  on  approaching  the  massy 
stones,  took  off  his  shoes  and  kissed  the  wall. 

Every  Friday  evening,  when  the  Jewish  Sabbath  begins, 
some  Jews  may  be  found  here  deeply  engaged  in  prayer ; 


*  2  Sam.  v.  7. 


t  Song  iv.  4. 


t  Matt,  xxvii.  29. 


REMAINS  OP  THE  TEMPLE  WALL. 


191 


for  they  believe  that  prayer  still  goes  up  with  most  ac¬ 
ceptance  before  God,  when  breathed  through  the  crevices 
ol  that  building  of  which  Jehovah  said,  “Mine  eyes  and 
my  heart  shall  be  there  perpetually.”  *  This  custom  they 
have  maintained  for  centuries,  realizing  the  prophetic 
words  ol  Jeremiah,  “  Is  it  nothing  to  you,  all  ye  that  pass 
by  ?  Behold,  and  see  if  there  be  any  sorrow  like  unto 
my  sorrow,  which  is  done  unto  me,  wherewith  the  Lord 
hath  afflicted  me  in  the  day  of  his  fierce  anger.”f  We 
counted  ten  courses  of  those  massy  stones  one  above 
another.  One  of  them  measured  fifteen  feet  long  by  three 
broad;  another  was  eight  feet  square;  others  farther 
south  were  twenty-four  feet  long.  They  are  bevelled 
like  the  immense  stones  of  the  mosque  at  Hebron,  and 
are  of  a  very  white  limestone  resembling  marble.  Some 
of  them  are  worn  smooth  with  the  tears  and  kisses  of 
the  men  of  Israel.  Above  the  large  stones  the  wall  is 
built  up  with  others  smaller  and  more  irregular,  and  is 
evidently  ol  a  modern  date,  affording  a  complete  con¬ 
trast  to  the  ancient  building  below.  Later  in  the  even¬ 
ing,  Mr.  M‘Cheyne  went  to  visit  the  same  spot,  guided 
by  Mr.  George  Dalton.  On  the  way,  they  passed  the 
houses  where  the  lepers  live  all  together,  to  the  east  of 
the  Zion  Gate  within  the  walls.  A  little  further  on,  the 
heaps  ol  rubbish  on  Mount  Zion,  surmounted  by  prickly 
pear,  were  so  great,  that  at  one  point  they  stood  higher 
than  the  city  wall.  The  view  of  Mount  Olivet  from  this 
point  is  very  beautiful.  The  dome  of  the  mosque  El 
Aksa  appeared  to  be  torn  and  decayed  in  some  places, 
and  even  that  of  the  Mosque  of  Omar  seemed  far  from 
being  splendid.  Going  along  by  the  ancient  valley  of 
the  Tyropceon,  and  passing  the  gate  called  by  the  monks 
the  Dung  Gate,  now  shut  up,  Mr.  Dalton  pointed  out  in 
the  wall  of  the  Haram,  near  the  south-west  corner,  the 
singular  traces  of  an  ancient  arch,  which  Professor  Rob¬ 
inson  had  discovered  to  be  the  remains  of  the  bridge  from 
the  Temple  to  Mount  Zion,  mentioned  frequently  by  Jo¬ 
sephus,  and  remarkable  as  a  work  of  the  highest  anti¬ 
quity.  The  stones  in  the  temple  wall  that  form  the  spring 
of  this  ancient  bridge  are  of  enormous  size.  This  inter¬ 
esting  discovery  goes  to  prove  that  the  large  bevelled 
stones,  which  form  the  foundation  of  the  present  enclo¬ 
sure  of  the  Haram  in  so  many  parts,  are  really  the  work 
of  Jewish  hands,  and  the  remains  of  the  outer  wall  of 
the  Temple  of  Solomon.  Neither  is  this  conclusion  in 

1  Kings  ix.  3. 


t  Lain.  i.  12 


192 


JERUSALEM — INTERVIEW  WITH  A  JEW. 


the  least  contradictory  to  the  prophecy  of  our  Lord, 
“  There  shall  not  be  left  here  one  stone  upon  another  that 
shall  not  be  thrown  down,”  for  these  dreadful  words 
were  spoken  in  reference  to  the  Temple  itself,  which  was 
“  adorned  with  goodly  stones  and  gifts and  they  have 
been  fearfully  fulfilled  to  the  very  letter,  for  the  Mosque 
of  Omar,  entirely  a  Moslem  building,  stands  upon  the 
rock  of  Moriah,  probably  on  the  very  spot  where  the 
Temple  stood. 

The  Jewish  place  of  wailing  is  a  little  to  the  north  of 
this  ancient  bridge.  Here  they  found  a  young  Jew  sit¬ 
ting  on  the  ground.  His  turban,  of  a  greyish  colour  pe¬ 
culiar  to  the  Jews  here,  shaded  a  pale  and  thoughtful 
countenance.  His  prayer-book  was  open  before  him, 
and  he  seemed  deeply  engaged.  Mr.  Dalton  acting  as 
interpreter,  he  asked  what  it  was  he  was  reading.  He 
showed  the  book,  and  it  happened  to  be  the  22d  Psalm. 
Struck  by  this  providence,  Mr.  M‘Cheyne  read  aloud  till 
he  came  to  the  16th  verse,  “  They  pierced  my  hands  and 
my  feet and  then  asked,  “  Of  whom  speaketh  the  pro¬ 
phet  this  3”  The  Jew  answered,  “  Of  David  and  all  his 
afflictions.  ’  “  But  David’s  hands  and  feet  were  not 

pierced  !”  The  Jew  shook  his  head.  The  true  interpre¬ 
tation  was  then  pointed  out  to  him,  that  David  was  a 
prophet  and  wrote  these  things  of  Immanuel,  who  died 
foi  the  remission  of  the  sins  of  many.  He  made  the  sign 
with  the  lip  which  Easterns  make  to  show  that  they  de¬ 
spise  what  you  are  saying.  “  Well,  then,  do  you  know 
the  way  of  forgiveness  of  which  David  speaks  in  the  32d 
Psalm  1”  The  Jew  shook  his  head  again.  For  here  is 
the  grand  error  of  the  Jewish  mind,  “  The  way  of  peace 
they  have  not  known.” 

The  same  evening  we  visited  all  the  synagogues  of 
Jerusalem  at  the  time  of  evening  prayer.  They^are  six 
in  number,  all  of  them  small  and  poorly  furnished,  and 
four  of  them  under  one  roof.  The  lamps  are  the  only 
handsome  ornaments  they  contain.  The  reading-desk 
is  little  else  than  an  elevated  part  of  the  floor,  enclosed 
with  a  wooden  railing.  The  ark  has  none  of  the  rich 
embroidery  that  distinguishes  it  in  European  syna¬ 
gogues.  As  it  was  an  ordinary  week-day,  we  found  in  ev- 
ery  synagogue  the  Jewish  children  who  had  been  receiv¬ 
ing  instruction  in  reading;  and  in  one  of  the  largest,  a 
group  by  themselves  was  pointed  out  to  us  as  being  orphan 
children  who  are  taught  free.  After  examining  the  syn¬ 
agogues,  we  paid  a  visit  to  a  Rabbi,  whose  house,  like  that 


QUALIFICATIONS  OF  MISSIONARIES. 


193 


of  Justus,  “joined  hard  to  the  synagogue.”*  We  walked 
with  him  upon  the  roof  looking  down  upon  the  city.  The 
roof  had  a  railing  or  battlement,  as  commanded  in  the  law, 
“  Thou  shalt  make  a  battlement  for  thy  roof.”f  There 
are  thirty-six  yishvioth ,  or  reading-rooms,  for  the  study 
of  the  Law  in  the  Holy  City.  In  one  of  these  close  by, 
some  old  men  were  busy  at  evening  prayer.  The  even¬ 
ing  prayers  in  general  seemed  not  to  be  well  attended. 
Our  guide,  who  was  a  Jew,  on  coming  to  his  own  syna¬ 
gogue,  immediately  left  us  and  went  up  to  the  front  of 
the  ark,  praying  very  devoutly,  but  with  much  ostenta¬ 
tion.  We  were  much  impressed  with  the  melancholy 
aspect  of  the  Jews  in  Jerusalem.  The  meanness  of  their 
dress,  their  pale  faces,  and  timid  expression,  all  seem  to 
betoken  great  wretchedness.  They  are  evidently  much 
poorer  than  the  Jews  of  Hebron;  and  “the  crown  is 
fallen  from  their  heads ;  wo  unto  them  that  they  have 
sinned.”  | 

At  night  we  had  another  opportunity  of  obtaining  in¬ 
formation  as  to  the  experience  of  Missionaries  in  labour¬ 
ing  among  the  Jews  of  Palestine.  The  principal  subject 
of  conversation  was — the  literary  qualifications  of  mis¬ 
sionaries  for  Palestine.  The  Hebrew  is  the  most  neces¬ 
sary  language  for  one  who  labours  among  the  Jews  in 
this  country,  and  it  is  spoken  chiefly  in  the  Spanish  way. 
A  Missionary  should  study  the  character  and  elements 
of  Arabic  in  his  own  country,  and  the  more  thoroughly 
he  is  master  of  these  the  better,  but  the  true  pronuncia¬ 
tion  can  be  acquired  only  on  the  spot.  Yet  Arabic  is  not 
so  absolutely  necessary  as  Hebrew.  Spanish,  too,  is  use¬ 
ful,  and  also  German,  and  he  must  know  Italian,  for  the 
purpose  of  holding  intercourse  with  Europeans  in  gene¬ 
ral.  Judeo-Spanish  is  the  language  of  the  Sephardim, 
and  Judeo-Polish  of  the  Ashkenazim  (i.  e.  Jews  from  Eu¬ 
rope).  All  of  them  know  a  little  of  Italian.  All  Jews  in 
Palestine  speak  Hebrew,  but  then  they  often  attach  a 
meaning  to  the  words  that  is  not  the  true  meaning  or 
grammatical  sense,  so  that  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to 
know  the  vernacular  tongue,  in  order  to  be  sure  that 
you  and  they  understand  the  same  thing  by  the  words 
employed.  A  Missionary  ought  to  be  well  grounded  in 
prophecy,  and  he  should  be  one  who  fully  and  thoroughly 
adopts  the  principles  of  literal  interpretation,  both  in 
order  to  give  him  hope  and  perseverance,  and  in  order 
to  fit  him  for  reasoning  with  Jews.  It  is  not  so  much 

t  Deut.  xxii.  8. 


*  Acts  xviii.  7. 


t  Lam.  v.  16. 


194 


FAREWELL  VISIT  TO  BETHANY. 


preaching  talents  as  controversial  that  are  required ;  yet 
it  is  to  be  hoped  that  both  may  soon  be  needed.  He 
ought  to  have  an  acquaintance  with  Hebrew  literature 
to  the  extent  of  understanding  the  Talmud,  so  as  to  be 
able  to  set  aside  its  opinions.  Acquaintance,  too,  with 
*h.e ^  . bala  is  necessary,  in  order  to  know  the  sources 

ox  Jewish  ideas,  and  how  scriptural  arguments  are  likely 
to  affect  their  minds.  Zohar  is  one  of  the  best  Cabba¬ 
listic  commentaries.  A  knowledge  of  Chaldee  and 
Syriac  would  also  be  very  useful:  In  a  mission  to  the 
Jews  there  ought  to  be  both  Jewish  and  Gentile  labour¬ 
ers  ;  the  Gentile  to  form  the  nucleus,  the  other  to  be  the 
effective  labourers.  If  a  converted  Jew  go  through  a 
com  se  of  education,  and  be  ordained,  he  would  combine 
the  advantages  of  both ;  still  a  Gentile  fellow-labourer 
would  always  be  desirable.  Faith  and  perseverance  are 
the  grand  requisites  in  a  missionary  to  Israel.  He  should 
never  abandon  a  station  unless  in  the  case  of  absolute 
necessity.  He  may  make  occasional  tours  in  the  country 
round  about,  but  he  must  have  a  centre  of  influence.  It 
is  of  the  highest  importance  to  retain  his  converts  beside 
him,  and  form  them  into  a  church  ;  for  two  reasons : — 1. 
Tittle  is  done  if  a  man  is  only  convinced  or  even  con¬ 
vened,  unless  he  is  also  trained  up  in  the  ways  of  the 
Gospel.  2.  The  influence  of  sincere  converts  belonging1 
to  a  mission  is  very  great.  It  commends  the  cause  of 
Christ  to  others.  At  the  same  time  it  ought,  if  possible 
to  be  made  a  rule  to  give  no  support  to  converts,  except 
m  return  for  labour,  either  literary  or  agricultural. 

(June  18.)  Early  next  morning  some  of  our  company 
set  out  to  make  a  farewell  visit  to  Bethany,  and  the  more 
notable  scenes  on  the  east  of  the  city.  We  passed 
through  the  bazaar  and  narrow  ruined  streets,  and  pur¬ 
chased  some  articles  as  memorials  of  Jerusalem.  Issuing 
forth  by  St.  Stephen’s  Gate,  we  crossed  the  Kedron,  and 
once  more  visited  Gethsemane,  a  spot  which  called  forth 
fresh  interest  every  time  we  saw  it,  and  has  left  a  fra¬ 
grant  remembrance  on  our  mind  that  can  never  fade 
Passing  jhe i  northern  wall,  we  went  up  the  face 
of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  stopping  every  now  and  then 
and  looking  round  upon  “the  perfection  of  beauty.” 
Jeremiah  says  that  “  all  her  beauty  is  departed.”*  How 

days^g  beautifuI’  then>  must  have  been  in  ancient 


*  Lam.  i.  6. 


VIEW  FROM  THE  MOUNT  OF  OLIVES. 


195 


Crossing  by  the  north  of  the  Church  of  the  Ascension, 
and  standing  on  the  summit  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  we 
once  more  enjoyed  the  commanding  prospect  of  the  Dead 
Sea,  stretching  to  the  south,  calm  and  of  the  deepest 
blue,  and  the  mountain  range  of  Moab  beyond.  From 
this  point  of  view  we  could"see  the  full  meaning  of  Eze¬ 
kiel,  where  he  says,  “  Thine  elder  sister  is  Samaria,  she 
and  her  daughters  that  dwell  at  thy  left  hand ;  and  thy 
younger  sister,  that  dwelleth  at  thy  right  hand,  is  Sodom 
and  her  daughters.”  *  And  as  we  turned  from  the  view 
of  that  mysterious  lake,  under  whose  heavy  waters  lie 
“  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  and  the  cities  about  them,  set 
forth  for  an  example,  suffering  the  vengeance  of  eternal 
fire,”|  and  looked  down  upon  the  place  where  Jesus 
“  came  near  and  beheld  the  city,  and  wept  over  it,”  we 
felt  that  the  recent  sight  of  Sodom’s  doom  may  have 
kindled  into  a  flame  the  Redeemer’s  unutterable  com¬ 
passion,  when  he  seemed  to  manifest  in  his  person  the 
tender  words  of  the  prophet,  “  Flow  shall  I  give  thee  up, 
Ephraim'?  how  shall  I  deliver  thee,  Israel"?  how  shall  I 
make  thee  as  Admah  1  how  shall  I  set  thee  as  Zeboim  7 
Mine  heart  is  turned  within  me,  my  repentings  are  kind¬ 
led  together.”! 

From  the  same  height  we  took  our  last  view  of  the 
course  of  the  Jordan,  marked  only  by  the  strip  of  verdure 
on  its  banks.  Beyond  lay  the  valley  of  Shittim,  in  the 
plains  of  Moab,  a  wilderness  of  pasture-land,  said  to  be  fif¬ 
teen  miles  long  by  ten  miles  broad,  affording  ample  room 
for  the  goodly  tents  of  the  many  thousands  of  Israel. § 
Not  far  from  that  spot  Elijah  ascended  to  heaven  in  his 
fiery  chariot,  and  his  mantle  floated  down  upon  his  holy 
successor.  And  from  the  same  open  sky,  at  another 
time,  the  Spirit  descended  like  a  dove,  and  abode  upon 
the  Saviour  when  he  was  baptized  by  John  in  Jordan. 

Another  prominent  object  in  the  scene  is  the  remains 
of  an  ancient  village  on  the  height  nearly  south  from 
Bethany,  and  about  half  a  mile  distant ;  it  is  called  Abu- 
Dis.  May  not  this  be  the  remains  of  Betliphage ,  the 
village  “  over  against ”  the  Jericho  road,  where  the  dis¬ 
ciples  obtained  the  colt  and  brought  it  to  Jesus'?  No 
other  trace  of  Beth  phage  has  ever  been  found,  neither 
has  any  traveller  found  an  ancient  name  for  Abu-Dis 
that  has  any  probability  of  being  the  true  one.  The  only 

*  Ezek.  xvi.  46.  The  left  hand  is  the  north,  and  the  right  hand  the 
south  in  Eastern  phraseology. 

Jude  7.  I  Hos.  xi.  8.  $  Num.  xxii.  1 ;  xxv.  1 


196 


BETHANY. 


objection  is,  that  Abu-Dis  is  not  upon  the  Jericho  road 
but  half  a  mile  to  the  south  of  it.  But  the  words  of  tne 
Evangelist,  rightly  understood,  do  not  imply  that  Beth- 
phage  was  on  the  Jericho  road,  or  that  Jesus  entered  the 
village.  Jesus  was  travelling  from  Jericho  probably  by 
the  present  highway,  “And  when  iliey  came  nigh  to 
Jerusalem,  unto  Bethphage  and  Bethany,  at  the  Mount 
of  Olives,  he  sendeth  forth  two  of  his  disciples,  and  saith 
unto  them,  Go  your  way  into  the  village  over  against 
you”*  The  simple  meaning  appears  to  be,  that  when 
they  came  to  the  confines  of  these  two  villages,  lying  on 
the  back  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  (and  Bethphage  may  be 
named  first,  because  the  more  conspicuous  of  the  two,) 
Jesus  sent  two  of  the  disciples  to  the  village  on  the  oppo¬ 
sing  height.  Had  he  passed  through  the  village,  there 
would  have  been  no  need  to  send  messengers  to  fetch 
the  colt. 

Leaving  the  summit,  we  descended,  over  a  lower 
brow  of  the  hill,  upon  “the  town  of  Mary  and  her  sister 
Martha,”  concealed  by  terraces,  and  rocks,  and  fig-trees. 
We  lingered  here  for  a  considerable  time,  occasionally 
attended  by  some  of  the  simple  country  people,  and  read¬ 
ing  over  to  ourselves  the  11th  chapter  of  John.  It  is  a 
fragrant  spot ;  the  name  of  Christ  was  poured  forth  frere 
in  his  wonderful  deeds  of  love  and  tenderness,  like  Mary’s 
pound  of  ointment  of  spikenard  very  costly,  and  the  fra¬ 
grance  is  as  fresh  to  a  true  disciple’s  heart  as  on  the  day 
when  it  was  done. 

We  left  Bethany  with  regret,  and  proceeded  to  Jeru¬ 
salem  by  the  broad  and  rocky  pathway,  which  appears 
to  be  the  ancient  road.  It  was  along  this  way  Jesus  rode 
upon  the  ass’s  colt ;  here  they  spread  their  garments  in 
the  way,  and  cut  down  branches  of  the  trees  and  strew¬ 
ed  them  in  the  way,  and  cried  Hosanna  !  You  first  ob¬ 
tain  a  distant  view  of  part  of  Jerusalem  before  leaving 
the  ridge  on  which  Bethany  stands ;  again  you  lose  it, 
descending  into  a  ravine;  then  ascending,  you  wind 
round  the  Mount  of  Olives,  with  the  Mount  of  Offence 
beneath  you,  when  suddenly  the  whole  city  comes  into 
view.  We  read  over  the  11th  chapter  of  Mark  as  we 
traversed  this  interesting  road.  It  was  by  this  road 
Jesus  was  walking  when  he  said  to  the  fig-tree,  “  No 
man  eat  fruit  of  thee  hereafter  for  ever and  the  next 
morning  they  saw  it  dried  up  from  the  roots,  and  Jesus 


*  Mark  xi.  1,  2. 


RETURN  TO  JERUSALEM. 


197 


said,  “  Whosoever  shall  say  unto  this  mountain,  Be  thou 
removed,  and  be  thou  cast  into  the  sea,  he  shall  have 
whatsoever  he  saith.”*  Many  such  fig-trees  now  line 
the  road,  and  we  pulled  some  of  their  leaves  for  a  me¬ 
morial. 

Leaving  the  track,  and  descending  the  steep  of  the 
Mount  of  Offence,  we  tried  to  find  our  way  into  the 
valley  of  Jehoshaphat  through  the  hanging  village  of  Si- 
loam.  With  great  difficulty  we  succeeded,  for  the 
houses,  many  of  which  are  ancient  sepulchres  hewn  in 
the  lock,  are  placed  one  above  another  in  a  very  sin°ri- 
lai  manner.  As  we  sat  at  the  Pool  of  Siloam,  the  deep 
shade  of  the  rock  was  truly  refreshing.  We  read  over 
John  ix.  and  vii.  37.  We  also  paid  a  last  visit  to  the 
fountain  further  up,  and  gathered  some  of  the  white 
pebbles  from  beneath  its  soft-flowing  waters.  We  then 
ascended  to  the  wall  of  the  city,  and  entering  by  the 
Zion  Gate,  once  more  passed  through  the  Jewish  quar¬ 
ters,  and  looked  upon  the  miseries  of  Israel  in  the  city 
where  David  dwelt.  “How  hath  the  Lord  covered  the 
daughter  of  Zion  with  a  cloud  in  his  anger !”  f  They 
are  by  far  the  most  miserable  and  squalid  of  all  the  in¬ 
habitants  of  Jerusalem,  and  if  we  could  have  looked  upon 
their  precious  souls,  their  temporal  misery  would  have 
appeared  but  a  faint  emblem  of  the  spiritual  death  that 
reigns  within.  “  Ah  sinful  nation !  a  people  laden  with 
iniquity!  The  whole  head  is  sick,  and  the  whole  heart 
is  faint.”  i  May  we  never  lose  the  feelings  of  intense 
compassion  toward  Israel,  which  these  few  days  spent 
in  Jerusalem  awakened;  and  never  rest  till  all  the  faith¬ 
ful  of  the  church  of  our  fathers  have  the  same  flame 
kindled  in  their  hearts ! 

*  Mark  xi.  14,  20,  23.  t  Lam.  ii.  1.  X  Isa.  i.  4,  5. 

r 


19 


198 


CHAPTER  IV. 

GIBEON — SYCHEM — SAMARIA — CARMEL. 

“  Blow  ye  the  cornet  in  Gibeah,  and  the  trumpet  in  Ramah :  cry 
aloud  at  Beth-aven,  after  thee,  O  Benjamin.  Ephraim  shall  be  desolate 
in  the  day  of  rebuke ;  among  the  tribes  of  Israel  have  I  made  known 
that  which  shall  surely  be.” — Ilosea  v.  8,  9. 

In  the  cool  of  the  afternoon,  all  the  preparations  for  our 
departure  being  completed,  we  mounted  our  horses  and 
wound  our  way  through  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  slowly 
and  reluctantly.  We  felt  deep  regret  at  leaving  both  the 
city  with  its  holy  associations,  and  the  kind  friends  who 
had  given  us  such  Christian  entertainment  in  this  strange 
land.  The  communion  of  saints  had  been  inexpressibly 
precious,  though  enjoyed  here  only  for  a  few  days.  Mr. 
Nicolayson,  whose  truly  Christian  and  brotherly  kind¬ 
ness  we  can  never  forget  nor  repay,  rode  some  miles 
with  us,  and  then  bade  us  farewell. 

A  Latin  Christian,  Giuseppe,  asked  leave  to  travel  in 
our  company.  He  lived  at  Bethlehem,  and  had  visited 
us  several  times  in  Jerusalem,  selling  the  beads,  inkhorns, 
and  mother-of-pearl  ornaments,  which  are  made  at  Beth¬ 
lehem.  On  his  arm  he  had  the  Virgin  Mary  and  the 
Holy  Sepulchre  punctured  with  the  Al-henna  dye,  a  cus¬ 
tom  which  appears  to  have  been  in  use  in  ancient  times.* 

We  journeyed  north-west,  and  soon  passed  the  Tombs 
of  the  Judges,  but  had  only  time  to  glance  at  them.  They 
are  cut  out  of  the  rock  in  the  same  manner  as  the  Tombs 
of  the  Kings.  Though  it  is  commonly  said  that  they  are 
the  sepulchres  of  members  of  the  Sanhedrim,  yet  their 
real  history  has  not  been  ascertained.  Descending  by  a 
very  rocky  path,  we  came  to  the  bottom  of  the  deep 
valley,  called  by  travellers  the  Valley  of  Elah.  Luxu¬ 
riant  vineyards  were  on  either  hand,  and  the  sun’s  rays 
poured  down  with  great  power  into  the  deep  ravines. 
We  soon  began  to  ascend  the  high  ridge  on  which  Naby- 


*  Isa.  xlix.  16 ;  xliv.  5. 


NABY-SAMUEBt^-RAMAH. 


199 


Samuel  stands.  Several  villages  appeared  among  the 
hills  both  on  the  right  and  left,  and  the  remnants  of  an¬ 
cient  terraces  were  distinctly  to  be  traced  on  most  of  the 
slopes. 

In  two  hours  from  Jerusalem,  we  arrived  at  Naby- 
Samuel,  situated  on  the  highest  point  of  a  terraced  hill 
of  considerable  height,  having  a  few  wretched  houses, 
and  an  old  ruined  church,  said  to  have  been  built  by  the 
renowned  St.  George,  but  now  converted  into  a  mosque, 
whose  spire  or  minaret  attracts  the  eye  on  every  side. 
For  many  centuries  this  spot  has  been  regarded  as  the 
ancient  Ramah,  where  the  prophet  Samuel  was  born ; 
where  he  lived  and  mourned  over  the  land  and  its  apos¬ 
tate  king,  as  he  looked  down  from  this  eminence  on  its 
populous  tribes  ;  and  where  also  he  was  buried.*  There 
appears  to  be  no  good  reason  for  doubting  the  accuracy 
of  this  ancient  tradition.  The  ruins  stand  on  the  most 
elevated  point  of  the  whole  region,  commanding  a  mag¬ 
nificent  view  on  every  side  ;  thus  answering  well  to  the 
name  Ramah ,  which  means  “ a  height”  and  to  its  other 
name  Ramathaim-Zophim,  “  The  heights  of  the  watch¬ 
men.”  The  conjecture  that  it  is  the  ancient  Mizpeh,  the 
gathering-place  of  Israel,  is  without  any  solid  foundation.! 


*  Sam.  i.  1 ;  viii.  4 ;  xxv.  1. 

t  The  only  objection  to  this  being  the  Ramah  of  Samuel,  is  taken 
from  the  history  of  Saul’s  visit  to  Samuel,  recorded  1  Sam.  ix.  x.  In 
his  house  at  Ramah,  Samuel  had  entertained  the  future  king  of  Israel. 
When  Saul  rose  to  return  to  Gibeah,  Samuel  describes  the  way  as  lead¬ 
ing  “  by  Rachel’s  sepulchre,  in  the  border  of  Benjamin,  at  Zelzah”  (1 
Sam.  x.  2).  But  as  both  Rachel’s  sepulchre  and  Zelzah  are  many  hours 
to  the  south  of  Naby-Samuel,  every  step  taken  in  that  direction  would 
lead  him  away  from  Gibeah,  which  lies  to  the  north-east.  At  first 
reading  this  passage  is  very  perplexing;  the  difficulty,  however,  may  be 
cleared  up  in  the  following  manner.  Saul’s  father  lived  not  at  Gibeah, 
but  at  Zelzah  or  Zelah  (Bet-Jala),  for  we  read  that  his  family  sepulchre 
was  there  (2  Sam.  xxi.  14).  But  he  had  an  uncle  who  dwelt  at  Gibeah 
(1  Sam.  x.  14) ;  and  Saul  himself  usually  resided  there,  both  before  and 
after  his  being  appointed  to  the  kingdom  (1  Sam.  x.  26),  and  hence  it 
was  called  “  Gibeah  of  Saul.”  On  the  occasion  of  his  father  losing  his 
asses,  he  sent  for  his  son  Saul  to  help  him  in  seeking  for  them.  Saul, 
however,  sought  in  vain,  and  was  now  on  his  way  to  Zelzah  to  let  his 
father  know  that  he  had  not  found  the  asses,  when,  as  he  was  passing 
near  the  hill  of  Ramah,  his  servant  suggested  a  visit  to  Samuel.  It  was 
then  that  the  interview  mentioned  1  Sam.  x.  occurred.  On  leaving 
Samuel,  he  proceeded  towards  his  father’s  house  at  Zelzah  as  he  had 
proposed,  passing  by  Rachel’s  sepulchre.  Here  he  met  two  men  just 
come  from  home,  who  told  him  that  the  asses  were  found ;  next  he  met 
three  men  on  the  plain  of  Tabor  (a  spot  now  unknown) ;  and  then, 
having  seen  his  father,  came  back  to  his  own  house  at  Gibeah  ;  which 
is  called  the  “  hill  of  God,”  because  there  was  a  school  of  the  prophets 
there. 


200 


VIEW  FROM  THE  HEIGHTS  OF  RAMAH. 


We  ascended  to  the  roof  of  the  deserted  mosque,  and 
surveyed  the  country  round  and  round  with  unmingled 
pleasure.  We  could  count  twelve  towns  or  villages 
within  sight.  To  the  south,  Jerusalem,  sheltered  by  the 
Mount  of  Olives,  was  distinctly  visible  ;  and  still  farther 
south,  about  twelve  miles  distant,  Bethlehem  and  the 
Frank  Mountain.  We  were  now  in  a  situation  to  un¬ 
derstand  the  prophecy  of  Jeremiah  in  reference  to  the 
massacre  of  the  infants  of  Bethlehem,  “In  Rama  was 
there  a  voice  heard,  lamentation,  and  weeping,  and  great 
mourning,  Rachel  weeping  for  her  children,  and  would 
not  be  comforted,  because  they  are  not.”  *  The  tomb 
of  Rachel  suggested  the  figurative  representation  of  the 
mother  of  Benjamin  and  Joseph  rising  up  to  lament  her 
slaughtered  little  ones,  and  the  import  of  the  passage  is 
as  if  he  had  said,  That  the  tide  of  wo  rolled  from  Beth¬ 
lehem  to  the  hill  whereon  Rama  stands.  Rachel  from 
her  sepulchre  begins  the  note  of  wo,  and  it  spreads  all 
around  even  to  the  distant  hills  that  shut  in  the  plain. 
Quite  near  us  in  the  same  direction  stood  a  village  in  the 
mountains  called  Lifta,  and  still  nearer  Betiksa,  which 
may  possibly  be  the  ancient  Sechu,  where  there  was  a 
great  well,  f  To  the  south-east  was  another  village, 
Kephorieh,  which  we  fancied  might  possibly  be  the  site 
of  Chephira,\  since  the  other  cities  of  the  Gibeonites, 
Beeroth,  Gibeon,  and  Kirjath-jearim,  are  all  in  this  re¬ 
gion.  Emmaus  must  have  been  like  one  of  these  seclud¬ 
ed  villages,  and  probably  in  this  direction.  We  could 
easily  imagine  the  two  disciples  traversing  the  rocky 
pathway  between  the  vineyards,  by  which  we  had  that 
evening  passed,  and  Jesus  himself  drawing  near  and  go¬ 
ing  with  them,  talking  with  them  by  the  way,  and  open¬ 
ing  to  them  the  Scriptures,  while  they  perceived  not  the 
difficulties  of  the  road  nor  the  lapse  of  time,  for  “  their 
hearts  burned  within  them  by  the  way.”  §  Looking  to 
the  east,  a  fine  hilly  scene  lay  before  us,  bounded  by  the 
mountains  of  Moab.  Upon  a  height  near  at  hand  stood 
Bet-hanina ;  to  the  north-east,  on  another  hill,  Ram  ;  and 
still  farther  north,  Kelundieh.  In  the  same  direction, 
though  not  within  our  view,  lay  Gibeah  of  Saul,  and 
Michmash,  not  far  from  each  other,  both  of  which  remain 
unto  this  day.  Due  north  we  saw  Rem- All  ah  in  a  very 
notable  position ;  a  little  to  the  west,  Beth-hoor,  believed 


+  Matt.  ii.  18. 
t  Josh.  ix.  17. 


t  1  Sam.  xix.  22. 
$  Luke  xx  iv.  32. 


GIBEON — AJALOUN. 


201 


to  be  the  Upper  Beth-horon ;  and  on  the  hill  above  it 
Bet-unia.  To  the  west,  we  looked  down  from  the  hills 
of  Ephraim  upon  the  vast  plain  of  Sharon ,  bounded  by 
the  Mediterranean  Sea,  into  which  the  evening  sun  was 
pouring  a  flood  of  golden  rays. 

But  the  most  interesting  of  all  the  ancient  towns  at 
this  time  within  sight  was  El  Geeb,  lying  at  our  feet,  di¬ 
rectly  north,  and  about  a  mile  distant.  This  is  the  an¬ 
cient  Gibeon,  whence  came  the  wily  Gibeonites  who 
beguiled  Joshua  and  the  congregation  of  Israel,*  de¬ 
scribed  as,  “a  great  city,  as  one  of  the  royal  cities,  greater 
than  Ai,  and  all  the  men  thereof  were  mighty.  ”f  It  is 
situated  on  the  the  top  of  a  remarkably  round  hill,  the 
sides  of  which  are  so  completely  terraced,  not  by  art  but 


by  nature,  that  they  present  the  appearance  of  a  flight 
of  steps  all  round  from  the  top  to  the  bottom.  The 
buildings  are  mostly  on  the  western  brow  of  the  hill, 
the  rest  of  the  summit  being  covered  with  fine  olive- 
trees.  Many  of  the  terraces  also  are  set  with  vines 
and  fruit-trees.  From  the  foot  of  the  ridge  on 
which  Ramah  stands,  a  fine  plain  or  shallow  valley 
stretches  past  Gibeon  to  the  north  for  two  or  three  miles. 
From  Gibeon  it  stretches  westward  for  about  a  mile, 
bounded  by  a  low  hilly  range,  except  in  two  points, 
where  there  are  openings  towards  the  western  plain,  the 
one  of  which  is  the  descent  of  Beth-horon.  The  fields 
of  this  valley  were  distinctly  marked  out,  some  of  them 
bearing  grain,  but  most  lying  waste.  In  one  place,  the 
vineyard  stretched  quite  across,  with  a  verdure  most 
refreshing  to  the  eye.  This  valley  the  muleteers  called 
Ajaloun.  Again  and  again  we  put  the  question  to  them, 
to  make  sure  that  we  were  not  mistaken,  and  they  still 
answered  Ajaloun.  Since  our  return,  we  have  not  been 
able  to  find  that  any  previous  writer  has  found  this  name 
still  remaining,  and  applied  to  this  valley,  and  we  there¬ 
fore  fear  that  the  muleteers  may  have  picked  it  up  from 
the  inquiries  or  conversation  of  some  traveller.  How- 

*  Josh.  ix.  t  Josh.  x.  2. 


19* 


202 


VALLEY  OF  GIBEON. 


ever  this  may  be,  the  scene  of  Joshua’s  miracle  was  at 
that  time  vividly  set  before  us.  The  glorious  sun  was 
sloping  westward,  about  to  sink  in  the  Mediterranean 
Sea,  and  his  horizontal  rays  were  falling  full  upon  the 
hill  of  Gibeon ;  at  the  same  moment  the  moon  was  rising, 
and  soon  after  poured  her  silver  beams  into  this  quiet 
vale.  Such  probably  was  the  very  position  of  the  sun 
and  moon,  in  that  memorable  day  when  Joshua  prayed 
and  “  said  in  the  sight  of  Israel,  Sun,  stand  thou  still 
upon  Gibeon ;  and  thou,  Moon,  in  the  valley  of  Ajalon.”  * 
We  are  plainly  told  that  the  battle  between  Joshua  and 
the  five  kings  of  the  Amorites  was  “  at  Gibeon.”  It  last¬ 
ed  probably  the  greater  part  of  the  day,  till  toward  even¬ 
ing  the  bands  of  the  Amorites  began  to  give  way,  and 
'  Israel  chased  them  as  far  as  the  descent  to  Beth-horon. 
At  that  steep  defile  the  Lord  cast  down  great  hailstones 
from  heaven  upon  them,  so  that  they  died.  But  it  seems 
to  have  been  before  that,  and  before  they  were  out  of 
sight  of  Gibeon,  that  Joshua  uttered  the  singular  prayer 
above  narrated ;  and  in  confirmation  of  this  view,  it  is 
interesting  to  notice  that  Isaiah  calls  the  scene  of  that 
day’s  wonders,  “  The  Valley  of  Gibeon.”f  There  was  a 
peculiarly  mellow  softness  in  the  evening  light,  that  gild¬ 
ed  both  tower  and  valley  at  the  moment,  and  it  was 
strangely  interesting  to  look  upon  the  scene  where  “  the 
Lord  hearkened  unto  the  voice  of  a  man.” 

It  was  at  Gibeon  also,  that  Abner  and  Joab  met  on 
either  side  of  the  pool,  and  that  the  young  men  began 
the  contest  which  ended  so  fatally.  J  We  were  afterwards 
told  that  the  pool  remains  there  to  this  day  on  the  north 
side  of  the  hill.§  Here,  too,  “  at  the  great  stone  which  is 
in  Gibeon,”  Joab  murdered  Amasa,  and  “  shed  the  blood 
of  war  in  peace,  and  put  the  blood  of  war  upon  his  girdle 
that  was  about  his  loins,  and  in  his  shoes  that  were  on 
his  feet.”||  In  the  same  place,  Johanan,  the  son  of  Ka- 
reah,  found  Ishmael  “  by  the  great  waters  that  are  in 
Gibeon.”  It  was  here  also,  that  “  God  appeared  to  Solo¬ 
mon  in  a  dream  by  night,  and  said,  Ask  what  I  shall  give 
thee.”  If  It  is  thus  hallowed  as  a  place  of  prayer,  and 
yet  more,  as  a  place  where  God  showed  to  the  world 
before  the  Redeemer  came,  how  unlimited  was  his  boun- 

*  Josh.  x.  12.  f  Isa.  xxviii.  21.  \  2  Sam.  ii.  12. 

§  Professor  Robinson  told  us  that  he  had  seen  this  pool,  but  had  for¬ 
got  to  look  for  the  great  stone. 

II  2  Sam.  xx.  8;  1  Kings  ii.  5. 


IT  1  Kings  iii.  5. 


RAPHAT — BEER. 


203 


ty  to  his  people-all  a  prelude  to  the  unspeakable  gift,  his 
beloved  Son,  which  has  made  all  other  wonders  lose  their 
glory  by  reason  of  the  glory  that  excelleth. 

Leaving  the  height  of  Rarnah,  we  descended  into  the 
plain,  but  did  not  enter  Gibeon,  because  the  sun  was  set¬ 
ting.  As  we  crossed  through  the  rich  vineyards,  which 
skirt  the  hill  upon  which  Geeb  stands*  two  foxes  sprang 
out,  and  crossing  our  path,  ran  into  the  corn  fields.  The 
thick  leafy  shade  of  the  vine  conceals  them  from  view, 
while  the  fruit  allures  them ;  like  the  secret  destroyers 
mentioned  in  the  Song,  “  Take  us  the  foxes,  the  little 
foxes  that  spoil  the  vines,  for  our  vines  have  tender 
grapes.”  *  We  saw  before  us  also  the  mixture  of  stand¬ 
ing  corn,  and  vineyards,  from  one  to  the  other  of  which 
the  foxes  ran,  when  Samson  set  them  loosed  Journey¬ 
ing  still  north,  we  passed  near  two  other  villages,  both 
finely  situated  on  rocky  terraced  heights ;  the  name  of 
one  of  which  was  Raphat.  It  was  here  that  Dr.  Keith 
missed  his  favourite  staff,  which  had  a  mariner’s  compass 
on  the  top  of  it.  A  muleteer  rode  back  in  search  of  it, 
but  in  vain.  The  darkness  was  coming  down,  so  that 
we  had  to  hurry  on.  Our  view  was  beginning  to  be 
obscured,  but  we  could  perceive  that  Benjamin  (whose 
borders  we  were  traversing)  had  a  pleasant  portion. 

In  two  hours  from  Ramah,  we  reached  Beer,  the  ancient 
Beeroth.  Our  servants  had  gone  before  us  and  erected 
the  tent,  and  now  stood  at  the  tent-door  to  welcome  us, 
Giuseppe  helping  us  to  alight  with  great  kindness.  It 
was  a  fine  moonlight  evening;  the  ground  was  sparkling 
with  the  light  of  the  glow-worm,  in  a  manner  similar  to 
what  we  had  seen  at  Hebron,  and  the  fire-flies  glittered 
through  the  air  in  great  numbers.  Our  tent  was  pitched 
immediately  in  front  of  a  gushing  fountain  that  emptied 
its  waters  into  a  large  trough,  above  which  was  a  Ma¬ 
hometan  place  of  prayer  falling  into  decay.  We  lay 
down  to  rest,  with  the  remembrance  that  it  was  here  that 
Jotham  took  up  his  abode  when  he  fled  from  Shechem  for 
fear  of  his  brother  Abimelech.j;  There  is  a  pleasing 
though  fanciful  tradition  associated  with  the  place,  that  it 
was  here  Joseph  and  Mary,  on  their  way  back  to  Naza¬ 
reth,  first  discovered  that  the  child  Jesus§  was  not  in  their 

*  Song  ii  15.  Herod,  too,  is  called  by  this  name  Luke  xiii.  32,  a  de¬ 
stroyer  of  the  Lord's  vineyard.  It  was  in  reference  to  this  that  Erasmus 
wa3  at  one  time  branded  by  the  monks  as  a  fox  that  laid  waste  the 
vineyard  of  the  Lord, 
f  Judg.  xv.  5  t  Judg.  ix.  21. 


$  Luke  ii.  44. 


204 


BETEEN. 


company,  and  turned  back  again  to  Jerusalem  seeking 
him.  It  was  probably  near  this,  too,  that  Deborah  the 
prophetess  dwelt  “  under  the  palm-tree  of  Deborah,  be¬ 
tween  Ramah  and  Bethel  in  Mount  Ephraim.”  * * * § 

(June  19.)  We  were  up  before  the  sun,  and  enjoyed 
the  luxury  of  washing  ourselves  at  the  full  flowing  foun¬ 
tain  of  Beer.  It  is  from  this  fountain  that  the  town  re¬ 
ceives  its  name,  both  now  and  in  ancient  times.  The 
Moslem  women  came  out  to  draw  water,  and  the  well 
soon  presented  a  lively  scene.  The  remains  of  the  town 
lie  on  the  rising  ground  to  the  north-east  of  the  fountain. 
We  wondered  how  travellers  could  ever  suppose  this  to 
be  the  site  of  Michmash :  for  it  does  not  stand  near  any 
deep  defile,  nor  are  there  any  such  sharp  rocks  as  Bozez 
and  Seneh  in  the  neighbourhood  ;f  besides,  it  is  not  on 
the  east  of  Beth-aven  or  Bethel,  but  to  the  south-west  of 
it.|  Beeroth  was  one  of  the  cities  that  belonged  to  the 
Gibeonites,  and  afterwards  fell  to  the  lot  of  Benjamin.  § 
It  was  to  this  place,  also,  that  the  murderers  of  Ishbosheth 
originally  belonged.  || 

We  journeyed  to  the  north-east,  through  a  pleasant 
pasture  country.  On  our  left,  we  passed  a  cave  in  the 
hillside,  running  a  considerable  way  into  the  rock,  which 
suggested  to  us  the  nature  of  the  retreat  of  the  five  kings 
of  the  Amorites,  who  fled  from  the  battle  of  Gibeon,  and 
“  hid  themselves  in  a  cave  at  Makkedah.”1T 

In  a  little  time  we  approached  the  district  of  Beth-aven 
or  Bethel.  The  hills  around,  as  well  as  the  ruins  of  the 
town,  are  called  by  the  Arabs,  Beteen.  This  name  is,  in 
all  probability,  the  remains,  not  of  Bethel,  but  of  Beth- 
aven.  It  would  seem,  that  in  the  days  of  Joshua,  this 
region  was  called  “  the  wilderness  of  Beth-aven,”  **  and 
perhaps  the  hill  on  which  the  town  afterwards  stood, 
Beth-aven.ff  When  the  town  was  built  it  was  called 
Luz,  but  Jacob,  grateful  for  the  visit  of  mercy  which  he 
there  received,  called  it  Bethel,  “  the  house  of  God.”  In 
later  days,  it  became  the  seat  of  idolatrous  worship,  and 
the  indignant  prophet  of  Israel,  to  awaken  the  people 
to  a  sense  of  their  sin,  recalled  the  ancient  name 
“  Beth-aven,”  or  “  house  of  vanity,”  and  sometimes  only 

*  Judg.  iv.  5.  t  1  Sam.  xiv.  4. 

t  1  Sam.  xiii.  5.  Professor  Robinson  and  Mr.  Nicolayson  visited 
Michmash,  lying  to  the  south-east  of  Bethel.  A  deep  valley  below  it 
and  two  pointed  rocks  still  fix  its  position,  and  the  Arabic  name  is 

Mukhmas. 

§  Josh.  Lx.  17;  xviii,  25.  H  2  Sam.  iv.  2.  If  Josh.  x.  16. 

**  Josh,  xviii.  12.  tt  Josh.  vii.  2.  tt  Hos.  x.  5,  8. 


SITE  OF  BETHEL. 


205 


“  A ven.”  From  this  seems  to  have  been  formed  the  pre¬ 
sent  name  Beteen. 

Turning  off  the  path,  a  little  to  the  right,  we  rode  into 
the  middle  of  the  ruins,  on  the  summit  of  a  considerable 
rising  ground.  A  ruined  tomb  on  the  nearest  eminence 
guides  to  them.  There  are  not  many  remains  of  edifices 
that  can  be  traced,  but  here  and  there  heaps  of  ancient 
stones,  the  foundations  of  a  wall,  and  a  broken  cistern, 
indicate  former  dwellings.  The  whole  summit  of  the 
hill  is  covered  over  with  stones  that  once  composed  the 
buildings,  and  there  is  space  enough  for  a  large  town. 
We  looked  with  deep  interest  across  the  ravine  on  the 
right  to  the  gentle  hill  considerably  higher,  on  the  east 
of  Bethel.  Probably  this  was  the  very  spot  where  Abra¬ 
ham  pitched  his  tent,  when  first  he  came  a  lonely 
stranger  to  the  land  of  Canaan ;  for,  it  is  said,  he  removed 
to  “a  mountain  on  the  east  of  Bethel,  having  Bethel 
on  the  west,  and  Ai  on  the  east,  and  there  he  built  an 
altar  unto  the  Lord,”  which  he  afterwards  returned  to 
visit  ;*  showing  with  what  holy  boldness  he  trusted  him¬ 
self  to  the  Lord’s  keeping,  though  bitter  foes  on  either 
side  enclosed  him.  Nor  could  we  forget,  that  on  the  hill 
where  we  stood  Jacob  spent  that  solemn  night,  when  he 
took  of  the  stones  of  that  place,  and  put  them  for  his  pil¬ 
lows,  and  beheld  a  ladder  “  set  upon  the  earth,  and  the 
top  of  it  reaching  to  heaven.”  We  read  over  the  passage 
and  applied  the  prayer  to  ourselves.f  It  was  here,  too, 
that  Jeroboam  set  up  one  of  the  golden  calves.  And 
here  he  stood  beside  the  altar,  burning  idolatrous  in¬ 
cense.  Perhaps  there  was  a  double  scheme  of  wicked 
policy  in  his  choice  of  this  place,  for  we  observed  that  it 
must  have  been  within  sight  of  the  highway  to  Jerusa¬ 
lem,  that  the  people  might  be  intercepted  on  their  way 
up  to  the  house  of  the  Lord  ;  so  that  his  object  was  at 
once  to  allure  them  from  God,  and  obliterate  Bethel’s 
hallowed  associations  with  Jehovah’s  gracious  discove¬ 
ries  of  himself  to  their  fathers  Jacob  and  Abraham.  The 
success  of  this  plan  may  be  conjectured  from  the  chil¬ 
dren  that  here  mocked  Elisha,  and  taunted  him  with 
Elijah’s  ascension,  saying,  “Go  up,  thou  bald-head.” 
The  prophet  who  came  out  of  Judah,  and  warned  Jero¬ 
boam,  probably  travelled  the  road  over  which  we  had 
passed.  Deborah,  Rebecca’s  nurse,  died  here,  and  was 
buried  probably  in  the  ravine  on  the  south,  for  it  is  said 
to  have  been  “  beneath  Bethel,”  under  an  oak  tree ;  and 

*  Gen.  xii.  8;  xiii.  3.  t  Gen.  xxviii  11, 12. 


206 


BETHEL — VILLAGES  ON  HILLS. 


Jacob  showed  his  tender  remembrance  of  her,  by  calling 
it  “  Allon  bachuth,”  “  the  oak  of  weeping.” 

Few  places  are  so  full  of  interest.  The  shapeless  ruins 
scattered  over  the  brow  of  the  hill,  are  themselves  silent 
witnesses  of  God’s  truth  and  faithfulness.  He  had  said, 
“  Seek  not  Bethel,  nor  enter  into  Gilgal ;  for  Gilgal  shall 
surely  go  into  captivity,  and  Bethel  shall  come  to  nought .”  * 
This  word  has  been  fulfilled  to  the  very  letter.  We  did 
not  at  the  time  remember  the  prophecy  of  Hosea,  “  The 
high  places  of  Aven,  the  sin  of  Israel,  shall  be  destroyed  ; 
the  thorn  and  the  thistle  shall  come  up  on  their  altars  ;”f 
but  we  have  no  doubt,  from  the  desolate  nature  of  the 
ground,  and  the  abundance  of  thorny  plants  in  that  re¬ 
gion,  that  some  other  travellers  will  discover  that  thorns 
and  thistles  are  waving  over  the  altars  of  Bethel,  in  ful¬ 
filment  of  the  word  of  Him  who  cannot  lie.  We  our¬ 
selves  saw  sufficient  marks  of  the  curse,  of  which  the 
thorn  and  the  thistle  are  the  emblems.} 

Leaving  the  ruins,  we  returned  to  the  road,  and  pro¬ 
ceeding  northward,  came  in  less  than  an  hour  to  a  vil¬ 
lage  on  our  left,  Ain  Yebrud,  finely  situated  upon  the 
summit  of  a  very  rocky  hill,  whose  sides  were  terraced 
and  planted  with  vines.  A  little  after,  we  saw  upon  the 
left  another  smaller  village  of  the  same  name,  situated 
upon  a  similar  hill,  whose  sides  were  entirely  uncultivated, 
presenting  little  more  than  a  barren  rock.  The  contrast 
was  very  striking,  and  showed  us  at  once  the  change 
produced  by  the  slightest  cultivation  in  this  land,  and 
how,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  in  “  a  very  little  while  Le¬ 
banon  may  be  turned  into  a  fruitful  field.”  Another 
village  further  on,  and  also  upon  a  hill,  was  called  Geeb, 
conjectured  by  some  to  be  the  ancient  Gob ,  famous  in 
the  wars  with  the  Philistines, §  though  others  suppose  it 
to  be  Gibeah  in  Mount  Ephraim ,  the  burying-place  of 
Eleazar  the  son  of  Aaron.  ||  These  villages  on  the  tops 
of  the  hills  had  not  only  the  advantage  of  being  easily  de¬ 
fended,  but  must  also  have  been  highly  salubrious,  hav¬ 
ing  the  cool  breezes  playing  around  them.  We  now 
entered  a  narrow  defile  called  Mezra,  and  descended 
rapidly  among  the  finest  vines  and  fig-trees  which  we 

*  Amos  v.  5.  Lord  Lindsay’s  interpretation  of  this  passage  cannot 
stand.  It  is  not  a  direction  to  a  traveller  not  to  search  out  its  ruins, 
but  a  command  to  the  idolatrous  Israelites  to  give  up  their  idolatry,  q.  d 
‘  Seek  not  Bethel,  but  return  to  me.” 

t  Hos.  x.  8. 

$  2  Sam.  xxi.  19. 


t  See  p.  119 

II  Josh.  xxiv.  33  in  the  original 


VILLAGE  OF  SINGEEL — SHILOH. 


207 


had  yet  seen.  The  terraced  hills  of  Ephraim  shut  us  in 
on  both  sides,  and  often  the  rocks  were  entirely  con¬ 
cealed  by  the  bright  green  leaves  of  the  vines.  Under 
the  fig-trees,  ripe  barley  was  waving,  whilst  a  very  large 
species  of  convolvulus,  and  many  other  sweet  flowers, 
adorned  the  pathway ;  and  the  voice  of  the  turtle,  issuing 
from  the  olives  that  often  girt  the  hills,  once  more  began 
to  salute  our  ears.  At  the  bottom  of  this  defile  we  came 
into  a  wider  ravine  running  from  east  to  west,  in  which 
was  a  broad  channel  of  a  brook  now  dry.  We  conjec¬ 
tured  that  this  may  be  one  of  the  brooks  of  Gaash*  in 
Mount  Ephraim.  Crossing  the  dry  channel  we  ascended 
by  the  ravine  of  a  tributary,  like  the  former  finely  plant¬ 
ed  with  fruit-trees ;  and  came  upon  a  building,  which  is 
reckoned  half-way  between  Jerusalem  and  Nablous.  It 
was  once  a  fortress,  and  is  said  to  have  been  the  head¬ 
quarters  of  banditti.  There  is  a  singular  cavern  near 
that  may  have  favoured  their  designs. 

This  road  must  have  been  often  traversed  by  our  Lord 
in  going  from  Jerusalem  to  Sychar  and  Galilee.  The 
reflection  of  the  sun’s  rays  that  now  beat  upon  us  from 
these  rocks,  may  have  been  felt  by  him  on  that  very  day, 
when,  “  wearied  with  his  journey,”  about  noon  he  sat 
down  on  Jacob’s  Well.  In  about  an  hour  we  ascended 
into  a  pleasant  fertile  little  plain  spreading  to  the  east, 
having  Singeel,  a  village  on  the  hills,  on  our  left  hand, 
and  Turmus  Aya,  upon  an  eminence  in  the  middle  of  the 
plain,  on  our  right.  It  was  at  this  point  that  we  should 
have  turned  to  the  right,  to  visit  Seiloun,  the  remains  of 
ancient  Shiloh.  Our  guide  promised  at  setting  out  to 
carry  us  that  way,  but  unwilling  to  lengthen  the'fatigues 
of  the  journey,  he  allowed  us  to  proceed  north  without 
letting  us  know  till  it  was  too  late  to  return.  We  after¬ 
wards  found  that  it  lay  about  an  hour  distant  to  the 
right.  Mr.  Calhoun,  an  American  Missionary,  told  us 
that  he  had  visited  it,  and  found  it  situated  upon  an  emi¬ 
nence,  having  fine  valleys  on  every  side  of  it,  except  to¬ 
wards  the  south, — valleys  that  could  have  contained 
multitudes  at  the  great  feasts.  Higher  hills  rise  behind 
these  valleys.  Our  servant  Ibraim  had  visited  it  with 
Professor  Robinson,  and  told  us  that  they  had  found 
nothing  but  ruins.  The  words  of  the  prophet  are  still 
full  of  meaning ;  “  Go  ye  now  into  my  place  which  was 
in  Shiloh,  where  I  set  my  name  at  the  first,  and  see  what 
I  did  to  it  for  the  wickedness  of  my  people  Israel.”!  We 


*  2  Sam.  xxiii.  30.  Josh.  xxiv.  30 


t  Jer.  vii.  12 


208 


LEBONAH — BEDOUIN  SHEIKH. 


could  also  see  the  minute  accuracy  of  the  description  of 
its  situation  given  in  Scripture,  “  Shiloh,  a  place  which 
is  on  the  north  side  of  Bethel,  on  the  east  side  of  the 
highway  that  goeth  up  from  Bethel  to  Shechem,  and  on 
the  south  ol  Lebonah.”*  The  region  round  is  all  fitted 
t01-rjS7UC^  vmeyai’ds  as  are  described  in  the  same  chapter.! 

We  now  ascended  to  the  highest  ridge  of  a  rocky 
mountain,  having  a  very  deep  valley  on  our  left.  Below 
us  on  our  right  lay  a  picturesque  plain  of  small  extent  em¬ 
bosomed  in  hills.  Into  this  we  descended  by  a  danger¬ 
ous  pathway,  and  came  first  to  an  old  ruin  called  Khan- 
el-Luban,  and  then  to  a  fine  flowing  well,  Beer-el-Luban. 
1  he^  water  was  cool  and  pleasant.  Some  Syrian  shep¬ 
herds  had  gathered  their  flocks  around  the  well.  There 
were  many  hundreds  of  goats ;  some  drinking  out  of  the 
troughs,  some  reclining  till  the  noonday  heat  should  be 
past.  We  were  again  reminded  of  the  Song,  “Where 
thou  makest  the  flock  to  rest  at  noonf’J  and  of  the  care 
which  tne  Lord  Jesus  takes  to  refresh  the  weary  souls 
ol  his  people  during  the  burden  and  heat  of  the  day,  de¬ 
livering  them  from  daily  returning  wants  and  tempta¬ 
tions.  At  the  north-west  end  of  this  valley,  on  the  height 
we  could  see  the  village  of  Luban,  the  ancient  Lebonah.b 
xia\mg  travelled  more  than  five  hours  without  inter- 
mission,  we  were  glad  to  rest  and  refresh  ourselves  for 
a  little  under  some  pleasant  olive-trees.  Scarcely  had 
we  resumed  our  journey,  when  we  met  at  the  northern 
enti  ance  of  the  plain,  the  Bedouin  Sheikh  whom  we  had 
seen  at  Jerusalem,  and  who  was  to  conduct  Lord  Claud 
Hamilton  to  Ammon  and  Jerash.  He  had  faithfully  ful¬ 
filled  his  engagement,  and  was  now  returning,  having 
left  his  charge  at  Nablous.  Three  fine  young  Bedouin? 
lode  behind  him,  and  all  were  attired  and  armed  in  the 
manner  of  their  country.  He  at  once  recognised  us  with 
joy,  and  showed  us  with  no  little  vanity  the  presents  he 
had  got  from  Lord  Hamilton.  Bidding  them  salam,  we 
wound  out  of  the  valley  to  the  right  under  a  small  town, 
like  a  nest  m  the  rocks,  which  an  old  Arab  called  Sawee. 
Leaving  this  vale  we  descended  into  another  running 
from  east  to  west,  very  deep  and  rocky.  Some  countrv- 
men  called  it  Wady  Deeb.  Crossing  the  dry  channel, 
and  ascending  to  the  very  summit  of  the  opposite  rido-e. 
a  noble  prospect  burst  upon  our  view.  From  the  foot  of 
the  mountain  on  which  we  stood,  a  beautiful  plain 


Judg.  xxi.  19. 


t  Judg.  xxi.  21. 


t  Song  i.  7.  $  Judg.  xxi.  19. 


PLAINS— HARVEST — SAMARITAN  VILLAGES.  2U9 

stretches  to  the  north  apparently  for  five  or  six  miles.  It 
seemed  about  two  miles  in  breadth,  bounded  on  either 
side  by  lofty  and  finely  intersected  hills,  studded  with 
villages.  The  furthest  of  these  hills  on  the  west  side  was 
Gerizim ,  with  a  white  tomb  upon  the  summit,  and  Ebal 
beyond  it,  the  two  hills  that  embosom  Sychar.  The  plain 
itself  was  cultivated  in  a  style  very  superior  to  any  thing 
we  had  yet  seen  in  Palestine,  and  was  beautifully  varie¬ 
gated  with  fields  of  different  colour,  some  bearing  dhura 
of  a  bright  green,  some  ripe  barley.  We  descended  into 
this  interesting  plain,  and  followed  the  track  close  under 
the  western  hills. 

The  country  people  were  engaged  in  their  harvest. 
Indeed,  this  was  the  busiest  part  of  the  country  we  had 
yet  visited.  Several  times  we  came  on  a  band  of  reap¬ 
ers  at  their  work,  and  met  camels  laden  with  sheaves. 
In  one  of  the  villages  the  treading  and  winnowing  were 
going  on  in  a  lively  manner.  On  the  eastern  range  of 
hills  there  are  three  villages  perched  in  very  romantic 
situations,  the  name  of  the  northmost  was  Raujeeb. 
Probably  these  were  flourishing  towns  in  the  days  when 
Joseph’s  portion  was  blessed  with  “the  chief  things  of 
the  ancient  mountains,  and  the  precious  things  of  the 
lasting  hills.”*  While  we  gazed  upon  these  villages  of 
the  Samaritans,  one  of  the  most  touching  narratives  of 
the  gospel  was  vividly  recalled  to  us.  Once  when  our 
Lord  was  going  up  to  Jerusalem,  he  sent  messengers  be¬ 
fore  his  face,  and  “  they  went  and  entered  into  a  village 
of  the  Samaritans  to  make  ready  for  him,  and  they  did 
not  receive  him.”  His  disciples  wished  to  command  fire 
to  come  down  from  heaven ;  but  he  gently  rebuked  them, 
saying,  “Ye  know  not  what  manner  of  spirit  ye  are  of;” 
and  they  went  to  another  village.f  It  is  probable  that 
this  was  the  road  by  which  the  Saviour  was  travelling,  and 
some  of  these  may  have  been  the  villages  here  spoken  of. 

In  about  two  hours  we  left  this  fertile  plain,  and  came 
round  the  eastern  shoulder  of  Mount  Gerizim,  ascend¬ 
ing  up  a  path  worn  deep  in  the  rock,  till  we  found  our¬ 
selves  in  the  entrance  of  the  Vale  of  Sychar,  running 
east  and  west  between  Mount  Gerizim  and  Mount 
Ebal.  We  did  not  know  at  the  time,  but  an  after  visit 
made  up  for  the  omission,  that  it  was  at  this  very  turn 
of  the  road,  where  it  bends  toward  the  city,  that  Jesus 
rested ;  for  Jacob’s  Well  was  there.  Entering  a  little 
way  within  the  vale,  we  rested  for  a  while  beside  a  flow- 
*  Deut.  xxxiii.  15.  t  Luke  ix.  52—56. 


20 


210 


MOUNT  EBAL  AND  MOUNT  GER1ZIM. 


ing  fountain,  called  Beer-el-Defna,  at  which  the  shepherds 
were  watering  their  flocks.  The  water  flows  into  a 
large  reservoir,  from  which  it  is  conducted  to  irrigate  a 
delightful  garden  of  herbs.  The  ride  up  this  valley  was 
indeed  beautiful.  The  plain  stretches  about  two  miles 
long  to  the  town  of  Nablous,  the  ancient  Sychar,  and  the 
average  breadth  appeared  to  be  nearly  half  a  mile.  The 
sun  was  beginning  to  sink  in  the  west,  and  was  pouring 
his  beams  directly  through  the  valley  as  we  approached. 
A  fine  grove  of  old  olive-trees  extends  for  about  a  mile 
to  the  east  of  the  town.  Through  this  we  passed,  and 
then  under  the  northern  wall  till  we  came  to  a  grassy 
spot  on  the  banks  of  a  winding  stream,  where  we  pitched 
our  tent  on  the  west  side  of  Sychar.  We  had  often  read 
of  the  verdure  and  beauty  of  this  scene,  but  it  far  ex¬ 
ceeded  our  expectations.  The  town  with  its  cupolas  and 
minarets  is  peculiarly  white  and  clean,  and  is  literally 
embosomed  in  trees.  In  the  gardens  beside  us,  we  saw 
the  almond-tree,  the  pomegranate,  the  fig,  the  vine,  the 
carob-tree,  and  the  mulberry;  orange-trees  also,  with 
golden  fruit,  and  a  few  graceful  palms.  The  singular 
prickly  pear  is  the  common  hedge  of  these  gardens.  Sit¬ 
ting  at  our  tent-door,  we  surveyed  calmly  the  interesting 
scene.  Mount  Ebal  was  before  us,  rising  about  800  feet 
from  the  level  of  the  plain.  It  appeared  steep,  rocky,  and 
barren.  A  few  olives  were  sprinkled  over  its  base,  but 
higher  up  we  could  observe  no  produce  save  the  prickly 
pear,  which  seemed  to  cover  the  face  of  the  hill,  much  in 
the  same  way  as  the  prickly  furze  on  many  of  the  hills 
of  our  own  country.  Viewing  it  from  another  point 
further  to  the  west  the  next  day,  it  appeared  entirely 
without  verdure,  frowning  naked  and  precipitous  over 
the  vale.  Mount  Gerizim  was  behind  us,  rising  to  a 
similar  elevation.  Although  precipitous  in  many  parts, 
it  has  not  the  same  sterile  and  gloomy  appearance  which 
Mount  Ebal  has.  It  has  a  northern  exposure,  and  there¬ 
fore  the  midday  sun  does  not  wither  up  its  verdure  with 
its  scorching  rays.  On  the  sides  of  one  of  its  shady  ra¬ 
vines  we  saw  fields  of  corn,  olives,  and  gardens,  giving 
it  altogether  a  cheerful  appearance.  In  some  places  the 
precipices  of  Gerizim  seem  to  overhang  the  town,  so  that 
Jotham’s  voice  floating  over  the  valley,  as  he  repeated 
the  Parable  of  the  Trees  from  one  of  the  summits  of  Ge¬ 
rizim,  might  easily  be  heard  by  a  quiet  audience  eagerly 
listening  in  the  plain  below.* 

*  Judg.  ix.  7 — 20. 


SYCHAR — SYNAGOGUE. 


211 


It  was  here  also,  upon  the  sloping  sides  of  these  con¬ 
fronting  hills,  that  the  blessing  and  the  curse  were  so 
solemnly  pronounced  in  the  days  of  Joshua.  *  Six  tribes 
were  stationed  on  the  sides  of  Gerizim,  and  six  on  the 
sides  of  Ebal ;  while  in  the  valley  between  was  placed 
the  ark  of  God,  with  the  priests  and  Levites  standing 
round.  When  all  was  thus  arranged,  and  every  man  of 
Israel  held  in  his  breath  in  anxious  suspense,  the  Levites 
in  a  clear  loud  voice  uttered  the  curses  in  the  name  of 
Jehovah.  At  every  pause,  the  six  tribes  on  Ebal  re¬ 
sponded  “  Amen !”  Then  the  blessings  were  uttered 
with  the  same  deep  solemnity,  and  the  six  tribes  on  Ger¬ 
izim  responded  to  every  blessing  “  Amen !”  It  is  not 
difficult  to  understand  how  the  united  voices  of  the  band 
of  Levites  in  the  valley  would  be  heard  by  the  multitudes 
that  lined  the  hills  on  either  side,  when  we  remember 
that  the  sound  floated  upwards  amid  the  stillness  of  an 
assembly  awed  into  deepest  silence.  This  lovely  valley 
formed  a  noble  sanctuary,  with  these  rocky  mountains 
for  its  walls,  and  only  heaven  for  its  canopy.  And  where 
can  we  meet  with  a  scene  of  more  true  sublimity  than 
was  witnessed  there,  when  a  covenanted  nation  bowed 
their  heads  before  the  Lord  and  uttered  their  loud  Amen, 
alike  to  his  promise  and  his  threatening  1 

In  our  evening  worship,  we  read  John  iv.,  with  feel¬ 
ings  of  new  and  lively  interest.  We  had  scarcely  com¬ 
mitted  ourselves  to  repose,  when  the  jackals  and  wolves, 
which  in  great  numbers  find  covert  in  the  neighbouring 
hills,  began  their  loud  and  long-continued  howling ;  the 
dogs  that  prowl  about  the  gates  of  the  town  immediately 
sent  back  a  loud  cry  of  defiance,  and  for  several  hours 
there  seemed  to  be  a  regular  onset  between  the  parties. 
The  ropes  of  our  tents  were  occasionally  shaken  by  some 
that  were  pursuing  or  pursued  ;  and  the  valley  continued 
to  resound  with  their  mingled  cries  till  the  depth  of  mid¬ 
night. 

(June  20.)  Mr.  Bonar,  waking  before  sunrise  wan¬ 
dered  through  the  grove  of  fruit-trees  toward  the  gate 
of  the  town.  Finding  it  already  opened,  he  entered. 
Wandering  alone  in  the  streets  of  Sychar  at  this  early 
hour  seemed  like  a  dream.  A  Jewish  boy  wron  he  met 
led  him  to  the  synagogue.  It  was  small  but  clean,  and 
quite  full  of  worshippers.  They  meet  for  an  hour  at  sun¬ 
rise  every  day.  There  were  perhaps  fifty  persons  pre¬ 
sent,  and  every  one  wore  the  TepMllim ,  or  phylacteries, 

*  Deut.  xxvii.  12. 


212 


sychar — Jacob’s  well. 


on  the  left  hand  and  forehead,  this  being  the  custom  at 
morning  prayer.  They  seemed  really  devout,  for  they 
scarcely  looked  up  to  observe  the  entrance  of  a  stranger 
till  the  service  was  done.  At  the  close  several  came  and 
spoke  to  him,  He  spoke  a  little  Italian  to  one,  and  then 
tried  German  with  another,  finding  that  there  were  Jews 
from  many  different  places.  Some  were  from  Spain, 
some  from  Russia,  one  from  Aleppo,  and  a  few  were 
natives  of  Sychar.  After  conversing  for  a  short  time 
they  separated,  going  home  to  breakfast. 

Mr.  Bonar  engaged  a  very  affable  Jew  to  show  him 
the  road  to  Jacob's  Well ,  who,  after  leading  him  through 
the  town,  gave  him  in  charge  to  another  that  knew  the 
place.  They  went  out  at  the  "Eastern  Gate  and  proceeded 
along  the  Yale  of  Sychar,  keeping  near  the  base  of  Ger- 
izim  for  nearly  two  miles,  till  they  arrived  at  a  covered 
well,  which  is  marked  out  by  tradition  as  the  memorable 
spot.  It  is  immediately  below  the  rocky  path  by  which 
we  had  travelled  the  day  before,  at  that  point  of  the  road 
where  we  turned  from  the  spacious  plain  into  the  narrow 
vale,  between  Ebal  and  Gerizim.  The  guide  removed 
a  large  stone  that  covers  the  mouth  of  the  low  vault  built 
over  "the  well ;  and  then  thrusting  himself  through  the 
narrow  aperture,  invited  Mr.  Bonar  to  follow.  This  he 
accordingly  did ;  and  in  the  act  of  descending,  his  Bible 
escaping  from  his  breast-pocket  fell  into  the  well,  and 
was  soon  heard  plunging  in  the  water  far  below.  The 
guide  made  very  significant  signs  that  it  could  not  be 
recovered,  “  for  the  well  is  deep.”  *  The  small  chamber 
over  the  well’s  mouth  appears  to  have  been  carefully 
built,  and  may  have  been  originally  the  ledge  which  is 
often  found  round  the  mouth  of  Eastern  wells,  affording 
a  resting-place  for  the  weary  traveller.  But  the  well  it¬ 
self  is  cut  out  of  the  rock.  Mr.  Calhoun,  who  was  here 
lately,  found  it  seventy-five  feet  deep,  with  ten  or  twelve 
feet  of  water.  In  all  the  other  wells  and  fountains  which 
we  saw  in  this  valley  the  water  is  within  reach  of  the 
hand,  but  in  this  one  the  water  seems  never  to  rise  high. 
This  is  one  of  the  clear  evidences  that  it  is  really  the 
Well  of  Jacob,  for  at  this  day  it  would  require  what  it 
required  in  the  days  of  our  Lord,  an  “  dvrX^a,”  “  some¬ 
thing  to  draw  with,  for  it  was  deep.”  |  On  account  of 
the  great  depth,  the  water  would  be  peculiarly  cool,  and 
the  associations  that  connected  this  well  with  their  father 


+  See  note  at  the  end  of  this  Chapter. 


r  John  iv.  11. 


Joseph’s  tomb. 


213 


Jacob  no  doubt  made  it  to  be  highly  esteemed.  For 
these  reasons,  although  there  is  a  fine  stream  of  water 
close  by  the  west  side  of  the  town,  at  least  two  gushing 
fountains  within  the  walls,  and  the  fountain  El  Defna 
nearly  a  mile  nearer  the  town,  still  the  people  of  the  town 
very  naturally  reverenced  and  frequented  Jacob’s  Well. 
This  may  in  part  account  for  the  Samaritan  woman 
coming  so  far  to  draw  water,  even  if  the  conjecture  be 
disregarded  that  the  town  in  former  times  extended 
much  further  to  the  east  than  it  does  now.  The  narra¬ 
tive  itself  seems  to  imply  that  the  well  was  situated  a 
considerable  way  from  the  town.  He  who  “  leads  the 
blind  by  a  way  which  they  know  not,”  drew  the  woman 
that  day  by  the  invisible  cords  of  grace,  past  all  other 
fountains,  to  the  well  where  she  was  to  meet  with  one 
who  told  her  all  that  ever  she  did — the  Saviour  of  the 
world  and  the  Saviour  of  her  soul. 

The  Romish  hymn  seemed  peculiarly  impressive  when 
remembered  on  this  hallowed  spot : 

Quaerens  me  sedisti  lassus, 

Redemisti  crucem  passus, 

Tantus  labor  non  sit  cassus! 

(Weary — thou  satst  seeking  me; 

Crucified — thou  setst  me  free ; 

Let  not  such  pains  fruitless  be !) 

But  nothing  can  equal  the  simple  words  of  the  Evange¬ 
list,  “Jesus  therefore  being  wearied  with  his  journey  sat 
thus  on  the  well.” 

About  a  hundred  yards  off,  to  the  north  of  the  well,  is 
Joseph’s  Tomb,  a  whited  sepulchre,  believed  to  mark  the 
place  where  Joseph’s  bones  were  buried.*  The  Jews 
frequently  visit  this  tomb  ;  and  many  Hebrew  sentences 
are  inscribed  upon  the  walls.  Whether  by  design  or 
accident,  we  could  not  ascertain,  a  luxuriant  vine  had 
made  its  way  over  the  wall  that  encloses  the  tomb,  and 
was  now  waving  its  branches  from  the  top,  as  if  to  re¬ 
call  to  mind  the  prophetical  description  of  this  favoured 
tribe,  given  by  the  dying  Jacob,  “  Joseph  is  a  fruitful 
bough,  even  a  fruitful  bough  by  a  well,  whose  branches 
run  over  the  wall.”f  The  beautiful  field  around  it  is,  no 
doubt,  “  the  parcel  of  ground  that  Jacob  gave  to  his  son 
Joseph,”  taking  it  out  of  the  hand  of  the  Amorite,  “  with 
his  sword  and  with  his  bow.”|  And  this  plain  is  the  plain 
of  Moreh,  near  to  Sychar.$  Some  have  fancifully  con- 

*  Josh.  xxiv.  32.  t  Gen.  xlix.  22. 

f  Gen.  xlviii.  22.  $  Gen.  xii.  6.  Deut.  xi.  30. 

20* 


214  BYCHAR— LEPERS— BAZAAR. 

jectured  the  name  to  be  derived  from  Jacob’s  exploit,  as 
if  it  meant,  “  the  plain  of  the  Archer .” 

About  eight  o’clock,  the  rest  of  our  company  paid  a 
visit  to  the  town,  to  visit  the  Jews  and  Samaritans. 
Under  a  spreading  nabbok-tree  near  the  gate,  we  came 
upon  live  or  six  miserable  objects,  half-naked,  dirty,  and 
wasted  by  disease.  Immediately  on  seeing  us,  they 
sprang  up,  and  stretched  out  their  arms,  crying  most  im¬ 
ploringly  for  alms.  We  observed  that  some  had  lost 
their  hands,  and  held  up  the  withered  stump,  and  that 
others  were  deformed  in  the  face ;  but  it  did  not  occur 
to  us  at  the  time  that  these  were  lepers !  We  were  after¬ 
wards  told  that  they  were  so, — lepers  on  the  outside  of 
the  city  gate,  like  the  ten  men  in  the  days  of  Jesus,  who 
lifted  up  their  voices,  and  cried,  “  Jesus,  Master,  have 
mercy  on  us  !”*  Our  Master,  had  he  been  with  us,  would 
have  stood  still,  and  said,  “  I  will ;  be  thou  clean.”  On 
the  nabbok-tree  were  hung  many  rags  of  cloth,  of  differ¬ 
ent  colours.  These  are  intended  as  sacred  offerings,  in 
accordance  with  a  superstition  of  the  Mahometans, 
which  was  never  fully  explained  to  us,  and  which  we 
saw  frequently  in  other  parts  of  the  country. 

We  passed  through  the  streets,  and  found  a  good  ex¬ 
ample  of  the  Eastern  bazaar.  It  is  a  covered  way,  with 
a  few  windows  in  the  roof;  abundantly  dark,  but  very 
cool  and  pleasant.  There  is  a  deep  pathway  in  the  mid¬ 
dle  unpaved,  about  three  feet  in  breadth,  along  which 
mules  or  camels  are  allowed  to  pass.  On  each  side  of 
this,  there  is  a  raised  stone  pavement,  very  smooth  and 
slippery,  which  is  used  as  a  place  for  the  shopkeepers  to 
sit  or  to  display  their  goods.  When  not  thus  occupied, 
it  may  be  used  for  walking.  It  is  a  strange  sight  to  walk 
along,  and  observe  the  turbaned  and  bearded  sellers 
sitting  cross-legged,  and  smoking  in  every  door-way. 
The  presence  of  a  stranger  excites  little  curiosity  among 
them  in  general.  Often  they  disdain  to  lift  their  eyes. 
Finding  out  the  Jewish  quarter,  we  went  to  the  syna¬ 
gogue,  into  which  several  Jews  followed  us.  The  little 
children  also  came  round  us,  and  the  women  looked  in 
at  the  door.  Our  Hebrew  Bible  was  soon  produced,  and 
the  prophecies  concerning  Messiah  formed  the  subject  of 
our  broken  conversation.  Dan.  ix,  Isaiah  ix,  liii,  Ezek. 
xxxvi,  xxxvii,  and  Jer.  xxiii,  were  the  passages  read  and 
commented  on.  The  men  were  most  willing  to  hear,  and 


*  Luke  xvii.  13. 


JEWISH  AND  SAMARITAN  SYNAGOGUES.  215 

some  of  the  children  clung  to  us ;  but  the  women  seemed 
displeased  and  impatient.  At  one  turn  of  the  conversa¬ 
tion,  ibraim,  our  servant,  who  understood  what  they 
were  saying,  cried  out,  “  Hear  how  that  woman  is  curs¬ 
ing  you.” 

While  we  were  thus  engaged,  a  Samaritan  came  into 
the  synagogue  and  sat  down.  He  was  much  better 
dressed  than  the  poor  Jews  ;  his  scarlet  mantle  and  tidy 
appearance  showing  plainly  that  he  was  better  off  in  the 
world.  He  invited  us  to  visit  the  Samaritan  synagogue, 
an  invitation  with  which  we  willingly  complied.  The 
Rabbi  was  seated  on  a  carpet  in  the  stone  court,  a  clean 
pleasant  place  close  by  the  synagogue.  He  was  a  rev¬ 
erend-looking  old  man,  with  large  uplifted  eyebrows, 
handsomely  attired ;  he  received  us  kindly,  and  convers¬ 
ed  with  great  freedom. 

Mr.  Bonar  having  missed  the  rest  of  us,  and  hearing 
that  we  were  gone  to  the  Samaritan  synagogue,  per¬ 
suaded  a  Jew  to  guide  him  thither.  He  led  him  to  a  shop 
in  the  bazaar,  where  a  fine-looking  man,  tall  and  cleanly 
dressed,  was  sitting.  The  Jew’s  look  was  that  of  con¬ 
tempt,  as  he  pointed  out  this  man,  saying  he  was  “  a  Sa¬ 
maritan.”  The  Samaritan  kindly  left  his  shop,  and  lead¬ 
ing  the  way  through  many  streets,  arches,  covered  ways, 
and  lanes,  brought  Mr.  B.  to  the  Synagogue.  The  old 
priest  having  made  sure  of  obtaining  a  handsome  pre¬ 
sent  from  us,  now  unlocked  the  door,  and  we,  after  taking 
off  our  shoes,  were  permitted  to  enter  the  synagogue,  a 
clean  airy  apartment,  having  the  floor  covered  with  car¬ 
pets.  One-half  of  the  floor  was  raised  a  little  higher  than 
the  rest,  and  seemed  to  be  used  for  sitting  on  during  the 
reading  of  the  law.  On  one  side,  there  was  a  recess 
which  we  were  not  allowed  to  enter,  where  the  sacred 
manuscripts  are  kept.  After  long  delay,  and  the  promise 
of  a  considerable  sum  (tor  he  told  us  the  sight  was  worth 
150  piastres  at  any  time,)  the  priest  agreed  to  show  us 
the  copy  of  the  Torah,  or  five  books  of  Moses,  which  is 
so  famed  for  its  antiquity.  They  said  that  it  was  written 
by  the  hand  of  Abishua,  the  son  of  Phinehas,  and  is  3600 
years  old.  It  was  taken  out  of  its  velvet  cover,  and  part 
of  it  unrolled  before  us.  The  rollers  were  adorned  with 
silver  at  the  extremities,  and  the  back  of  the  manuscript 
was  covered  with  green  silk.  It  was  certainly  a  very 
ancient  manuscript.  The  parchment  was  much  soiled 
and  worn,  but  the  letters  were  quite  legible,  written  in 
the  old  Samaritan  character.  If  this  was  the  real  copy 


216 


SYCHAR— JEWS  AND  SAMARITANS. 


so  much  boasted  of,  the  Samaritans  have  lost  some  of 
their  superstition  regarding  it,  for  they  allowed  us  to 
touch  it.  Several  of  their  prayer-books  were  lying  about, 
all  written  with  the  pen  in  the  Samaritan  character. 

The  Samaritans  can  speak  very  little  Hebrew ;  their 
language  is  Arabic,  but  by  means  of  our  servant  Ibraim, 
and  a  Jew  who  kept  by  us,  we  got  our  questions  an¬ 
swered,  and  a  good  many  remarks  were  made  on  both 
sides  upon  passages  of  Scripture.  The  son  of  the  priest 
was  an  interesting  young  man,  candid,  and  anxious  to 
hear  the  truth.  He  admitted  that  the  prophecy  regard¬ 
ing  “  the  seed  of  the  woman”  referred  to  the  Messiah : 
and  said  that  they  still  expect  a  prophet  “like  unto 
Moses.”  The  Samaritans  do  not  believe  in  the  restora¬ 
tion  of  the  Jews.  They  told  us  that  there  are  about  forty 
who  attend  the  synagogue,  and  about  150  souls  alto¬ 
gether  belonging  to  their  communion.  The  enmity  be¬ 
tween  the  Jews  and  the  Samaritans  is  not  now  so  great, 
nor  so  openly  manifested,  as  once  it  was ;  but  we  could 
perceive  that  it  still  existed.  We  had  seen  a  Samaritan 
sitting  in  the  Jewish  synagogue,  and  the  Jew  who  ac¬ 
companied  us  was  now  seated  in  the  Samaritan  syna¬ 
gogue:  yet  it  was  easy  to  see  that  the  Jew  was  jealous 
of  the  attention  which  we  paid  to  the  Samaritans.  After 
taking  leave  of  the  priest  and  his  son,  we  were  conduct¬ 
ed  again  to  the  Jewish  quarter.  We  found  a  Rabbi,  an 
old  grey-haired  man,  sitting  in  the  synagogue,  reading 
the  Talmud.  We  spoke  a  good  deal  with  him  in  He¬ 
brew,  chiefly  pointing  out  “  the  Lord  our  righteousness.” 
It  was  pleasant  to  speak  even  a  word  to  a  Jew,  in  the 
city  where  Jacob  often  dwelt ;  and  to  a  Samaritan  in  the 
very  place  where  Jesus  said,  “Lift  up  your  eyes  and 
look  on  the  fields,  for  they  are  white  already  to  the  harv¬ 
est.”*  Our  Jewish  guide  next  led  us  to  a  handsome 
fountain  of  water  at  the  west  end  of  the  town  within  the 
walls.  It  seemed  to  be  supplied  from  Mount  Gerizim. 
He  said  that  Jacob  had  built  the  walls  of  it. 

A  little  Jew  boy,  named  Mordecai,  with  sparkling 
bright  eyes,  had  for  some  time  kept  fast  hold  of  Mr.  M’- 
Cheyne’s  hand.  He  could  speak  nothing  but  Arabic; 
but  by  means  of  most  expressive  signs,  he  entreated  Mr. 
M.  to  go  with  him.  He  consented,  and  the  little  boy,  with 
the  greatest  joy,  led  him  through  streets  and  lanes,  then 
opening  a  door,  and  leading  the  way  up  a  stair,  he 


*  John  iv.  35. 


MORDECAI,  A  JEW  BOY. 


217 


brought  him  to  the  house  of  the  Jewish  Kazan .  The 
room  into  which  he  was  led  was  very  clean,  delightfully 
cool,  and  neatly  furnished,  in  the  Eastern  mode,  with 
carpets  and  a  divan  with  cushions  all  round.  The  Hazan 
was  not  at  home,  but  his  wife  soon  appeared,  and  re¬ 
ceived  the  stranger  with  all  kindness.  She  was  dressed 
in  the  peculiar  attire  of  the  Jewish  female,  and  carried  a 
long  pipe  in  her  hand,  which  she  occasionally  smoked. 
Her  only  language  was  Arabic,  for  the  females  in  Pales¬ 
tine  appear  to  be  strangers  to  the  Hebrew,  and  are  thus 
entirely  shut  out  from  understanding  the  Word  of  God 
which  is  read  in  the  synagogues.  She  ordered  rose¬ 
water  to  be  brought — and  then  coffee — and  seemed  grati¬ 
fied  to  be  permitted  to  entertain  her  unexpected  guest. 
On  taking  leave,  the  little  guide  urged  him  to  pay  another 
visit.  He  led  the  way  to  the  Bazaar,  and  there  stopped 
beside  the  shop  of  a  merchant,  a  venerable-looking  man, 
saying  Yehudi ,  “  a  Jew.”  Sitting  down  on  the  stone 
pavement,  the  Hebrew  Bible  was  produced,  and  the  pas¬ 
sage  read  was  “  the  dry  bones”  of  Ezekiel.  Several 
Jews  gathered  round  who  could  speak  Italian  or  the 
Lingua  Franca ,  and  all  joined  in  the  discussion  by  turns. 
The  merchant  himself  seemed  to  be  a  worldly  Jew,  and 
cared  little  about  divine  things ;  but  some  of  the  rest  were 
interested.  Leaving  this  group,  the  little  Jew  proposed 
to  guide  Mr.  M.  to  the  well  of  Jacob,  which  he  said  he 
knew.  But  the  day  was  too  far  spent,  as  we  had  agreed 
to  leave  Sychar  at  noon.  With  difficulty,  Mr.  M.  now 
prevailed  upon  little  Mordecai  to  come  with  him  to  our 
tents,  to  receive  a  reward  for  all  his  kindness.  Giving 
him  a  Hebrew  tract  for  the  Hazan,  another  for  the  old 
Jew  in  the  Bazaar,  and  a  third  for  his  father,  and  putting 
a  silver  piece  into  his  hand,  which  seemed  to  fill  him  with 
wonder,  we  bade  farewell  to  little  Mordecai. 

We  felt  sorry  to  part  so  soon  from  such  a  scene  as 
this.  The  twice-repeated  blessing  of  fruitfulness  put 
upon  the  land  of  Joseph  lingers  about  the  vale  of  Sychar 
still,  “  Blessed  of  the  Lord  be  his  land,  for  the  precious 
things  of  heaven,  for  the  dew,  and  for  the  deep  that 
coucheth  beneath,  and  for  the  precious  fruits  brought 
forth  by  the  sun,  and  for  the  precious  things  put  forth 
by  the  moon.”  *  It  seemed  almost  as  if  the  Lord  remem¬ 
bered  still  the  kindness  of  its  former  people,  and  kept 
this  natural  beauty  around  it  as  a  memorial. 


*  Deut.  xxxiii.  13,  11.  Gen.  xlix.  22. 


213 


SYCHAR — FOUR  JEWS. 


We  were  in  the  act  of  preparing  to  mount  our  horses, 
when  the  four  interesting  Je  ws  with  whom  we  had  sailed 
from  Syra  to  Alexandria,*  arrived  at  the  very  spot  of  our 
encampment.  We  could  scarcely  believe  our  eyes ;  but 
so  it  was.  They  were  mounted  on  horses,  and  had 
proceeded  thus  far  on  their  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem. 
After  we  left  them  in  Egypt,  they  had  sailed  from  Alex¬ 
andria  to  Beyrout,  endured  the  sixteen  day’s  quarantine 
there,  and  were  now  accomplishing  the  object  of  their 
journey.  We  met  like  old  friends;  they  all  saluted  us 
with  great  heartiness,  and  were  willing  ere  we  parted  to 
receive  Hebrew  tracts  from  us.  We  delayed  a  short 
time  conversing  with  them,  and  then  about  one  o’clock 
bade  farewell  to  them  and  to  Sychar. 

The  road  from  this  to  Samaria  is  perhaps  the  best  we 
travelled  in  all  Palestine.  It  is  a  level,  broad  highway  at 
the  base  of  hills — no  doubt  once  much  frequented  by  the 
kings  of  Israel,  who  would  keep  the  highway  to  their 
capital  in  good  repair.  The  direction  it  takes  is  north¬ 
west  for  about  one  hour,  and  then  over  a  ridge  which  may 
be  regarded  as  a  continuation  of  Ebal.  The  vale  down 
which  we  rode  was  well  watered  everywhere ;  a  fine 
stream  meanders  through  it,  and  there  are  many  wells ; 
forming  a  complete  contrast  to  the  south  part  of  the  land.f 
The  gardens  on  every  hand  are  very  luxuriant,  the  trees 
wearing  their  richest  foliage ;  the  fig,  olive,  and  orange 
trees  laden  with  fruit.  We  observed  gardens  of  onions 
which  seemed  to  rival  those  of  Egypt.  Many  villages 
embosomed  in  trees  also  came  in  sight.  A  small  village 
on  the  left,  was  called  Bet-Ouzin.  Another  on  the  hill 
Bet-Iba.  Below  this  an  old  aqued  uct  having  eleven  arches 
crosses  the  valley,  the  water  of  which  turns  a  mill.  Be¬ 
fore  leaving  the  Valley  of  Nablous,  we  looked  back  and 
obtained  a  view  of  Ebal,  strikingly  rocky  and  sterile. 

Our  route  now  lay  north-west  over  a  considerable 
ridge,  during  the  ascent  of  which  we  obtained  a  view  of 
many  distant  villages;  and  among  others  Ramla,  on  an 
eminence.  When  we  had  gained  the  summit,  the  hill  of 
Samaria  came  in  sight,  rising  out  of  the  plain  to  the 
height  of  about  four  hundred  feet.  It  is  an  oblong  hill  slop¬ 
ing  up  toward  the  west,  and  has  a  considerable  extent 
of  table-land  on  the  top.  The  plain,  near  the  head  of 
which  it  stands,  stretches  far  to  the  west,  and  the  mourn 


*  See  p  42 


t  Ps.  cxxvi.  4. 


. 


To  f;  ce  ]  age  219 


RUINS  OF  SAMARIA. 


219 


tains  that  enclose  it  are  lofty.  It  is  a  hill  in  the  midst  of 
higher  hills ;  a  noble  situation  for  a  royal  city.  A  grove 
of  olives  covers  the  plain,  and  the  lower  part  of  the  south¬ 
ern  side  of  the  hill.  On  the  mountain  to  the  right  stands 
a  picturesque  village  called  Nakoura,  and  on  the  summit 
a  white  tomb  of  a  Moslem  saint.  We  read  over  the  pro¬ 
phecy  of  Micah*  regarding  Samaria  as  we  drew  near  to 
it,  and  conversed  together  as  to  its  full  meaning.  We 
asked  Dr.  Keith  what  he  understood  by  the  expression 
“I  will  make  Samaria  as  an  heap  of  the  field?”  He  re¬ 
plied,  that  he  supposed  the  ancient  stones  of  Samaria 
would  be  found,  not  in  the  form  of  a  ruin,  but  gathered 
into  heaps  in  the  same  manner  as  in  cleaning  a  vineyard, 
or  as  our  farmers  at  home  clear  their  fields  by  gathering 
the  stones  together.  In  a  little  after  we  found  the  con¬ 
jecture  to  be  completely  verified.  We  halted  at  the  east¬ 
ern  end  of  the  hill  beside  an  old  aqueduct,  and  immedi¬ 
ately  under  the  ruin  of  an  old  Greek  church  which  rises 
on  this  side  above  the  miserable  village  of  Subuste.f 
The  ruin  is  one  of  the  most  sightly  in  the  whole  of  Pal¬ 
estine.  We  ascended  on  foot  by  a  narrow  and  steep 
pathway,  which  soon  divides  into  two,  and  conducts 
past  the  foundations  of  the  ruined  church  to  the  village. 
The  pathway  is  enclosed  by  rude  dykes,  the  stones  of 
which  are  large  and  many  of  them  carved,  and  these  are 
piled  rather  than  built  upon  one  another.  Some  of  them 
are  loose  and  ready  to  fall.  Many  are  peculiarly  large, 
and  have  evidently  belonged  to  ancient  edifices.  Indeed, 
the  whole  face  of  this  part  of  the  hill  suggests  the  idea 
that  the  buildings  of  the  ancient  city  had  been  thrown 
down  from  the  brow  of  the  hill. 

Ascending  to  the  top,  we  went  round  the  whole  sum¬ 
mit,  and  found  marks  of  the  same  process  everywhere. 
The  people  of  the  country,  in  order  to  make  room  for 
their  fields  and  gardens,  have  swept  off  the  old  houses, 
and  poured  the  stones  down  into  the  valley.  Masses  of 
stone,  and  in  one  place  two  broken  columns,  are  seen, 
as  it  were,  on  their  way  to  the  bottom  of  the  hill.  In  the 
southern  valley,  we  counted  thirteen  large  heaps  of 
stones,  most  of  them  piled  up  round  the  trunks  of  the 
olive-trees.  The  church  above  mentioned  is  the  only 
solid  ruin  that  now  remains  where  the  proud  city  once 

*  Micah  i  6. 

i  Herod  rebuilt  the  city  and  called  it  Sebaste,  which  means  “  august, 
or  venerable,”  in  honour  of  Augustus  Caesar;  but  God  had  written  its 
doom  centuries  before. 


220 


RUINS  OP  SAMARIA, 


stood.  Ill  the  houses  of  the  villagers,  we  saw  many 
pieces  of  ancient  columns,  often  laid  horizontally  in  the 
wall ;  in  one  place,  a  Corinthian  capital,  and  in  another 
a  finely-carved  stone.  Near  the  village,  and  in  the  midst 
of  a  cultivated  field,  stood  six  columns,  bare  and  without 
their  capitals,  then  seven  more  that  appear  to  have  form¬ 
ed  the  opposite  side  of  the  colonnade ;  and  at  a  little  dis¬ 
tance  about  seventeen  more.  Again,  on  the  north-east 
side,  we  found  fourteen  pillars  standing.  But  the  great¬ 
est  number  were  on  the  north-western  brow.  Here  we 
counted  fifty-six  columns  in  a  double  row  at  equal  dis¬ 
tances,  all  wanting  the  capital,  many  of  them  broken 
across,  and  some  having  only  the  base  remaining.  These 
ruins  may  be  the  remnant  of  some  of  Samaria’s  idola¬ 
trous  temples,  or  more  probably  of  a  splendid  arcade, 
which  may  have  been  carried  completely  round  the  city. 
And  these  are  all  that  remain  of  Samaria,  “  the  crown  of 
pride !”  The  greater  part  of  the  top  of  the  hill  is  used  as 
a  field;  the  crop  had  been  reaped,  and  the  villagers  were 
busy  at  the  thrashing-floor.  Part  of  the  southern  side  is 
thickly  planted  with  figs,  olives,  and  pomegranates.  We 
found  a  solitary  vine,  the  only  representative  of  the  luxu¬ 
riant  vineyards  which  once  supplied  the  capital.  At  one 
point,  a  fox  sprang  across  our  path  into  the  gardens,  a 
living  witness  of  an  unpeopled  city. 

It  was  most  affecting  to  look  round  this  scene  of  deso¬ 
lation,  and  to  remember  that  this  was  the  place  where 
wicked  Ahab  built  his  house  of  Baal,  where  cruel  Jeze¬ 
bel  ruled,  and  where  Elijah  and  Elisha  did  their  won¬ 
ders.  But  above  all,  it  filled  the  mind  with  solemn  awe 
to  read  over  on  the  spot  the  words  of  God’s  prophet  ut¬ 
tered  2500  years  before — “  I  will  make  Samaria  as  an 
heap  of  the  field,  and  as  plantings  of  a  vineyard ;  and  1 
will  pour  down  the  stones  thereof  into  the  valley ,  and  1 
will  discover  the  foundations  thereof  ”  *  Every  clause 
reveals  a  new  feature  in  the  desolation  of  Samaria,  differ¬ 
ing  in  all  its  details  from  the  desolation  of  Jerusalem,! 
and  every  word  has  literally  come  to  pass.  We  had  found 
both  on  the  summit  and  on  the  southern  valley,  at  every 
little  interval,  heaps  of  ancient  stones  piled  up,  which  had 
been  gathered  off  the  surface  to  clear  it  for  cultivation. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  these  stones  once  formed 
part  of  the  temples,  and  palaces,  and  dwellings  of  Sama¬ 
ria,  so  that  the  word  is  fulfilled,  “  /  will  make  Samaria 


*  Mic.  i.  6. 


t  See  pages  130.  145. 


FULFILMENT  OF  PROPHECY. 


221 


as  an  heap  of  the  field.'1'1  We  had  also  seen  how  com¬ 
pletely  the  hill  has  been  cleared  of  all  its  edifices,  the 
stones  gathered  off  it  as  in  the  clearing  of  a  vineyard, 
the  only  columns  that  remain  standing  bare,  without 
their  capitals,  so  that,  in  all  respects,  the  hill  is  left  like 
“  the  plantings  of  a  vineyard ,”  either  like  the  bare  vine- 
shoots  of  a  newly  planted  vineyard,  or  like  the  well- 
cleared  terraces  where  vines  might  be  planted.*  Still 
further,  we  had  seen  that  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  city  had 
not  been  left  to  moulder  away  on  the  hill  where  they 
were  built,  as  is  the  case  with  other  ruined  cities,  but  had 
been  cleared  away  to  make  room  for  the  labours  of  the 
husbandman.  The  place  where  the  buildings  of  the  city 
stood  has  been  tilled,  sown,  and  reaped  ;  and  the  build¬ 
ings  themselves  rolled  down  over  the  brow  of  the  hill. 
Of  this,  the  heaps  in  the  valley,  the  loose  fragments  in  the 
rude  dykes  that  run  up  the  sides,  and  the  broken  col¬ 
umns  on  their  way  down  into  the  valley,  are  witnesses ; 
so  that  the  destroyers  of  Samaria  (whose  very  names  are 
unknown),  and  the  simple  husbandman,  have  both  un¬ 
wittingly  been  fulfilling  God’s  word,  “  I  will  pour  down 
the  sto?ies  thereof  into  the  valley .”  And  last  of  all,  we 
had  noticed  that  many  of  the  stones  in  the  valley  were 
large  and  massy,  as  if  they  had  been  foundation-stones 
of  a  building,  and  that  in  many  parts  of  the  vast  colon¬ 
nade  nothing  more  than  the  bases  of  the  pillars  remain. 
But  especially,  we  observed  that  the  ruined  church  had 
been  built  upon  foundations  of  a  far  older  date  than  the 
church  itself,  the  stones  being  of  great  size,  and  bevelled 
in  a  manner  similar  to  the  stones  of  the  temple  wall  at 
Jerusalem,  and  those  of  the  mosque  at  Hebron;  and 
these  foundations  were  now  quite  exposed.  So  that  the 
last  clause  of  the  prophecy  is  fulfilled  with  the  same 
awful  minuteness,  “  I  will  discover  the  foundations  there¬ 
of"  Surely  there  is  more  than  enough  in  the  fulfilment 
of  this  fourfold  prediction  to  condemn,  if  it  does  not  con¬ 
vince,  the  infidel. 

We  examined  the  old  church  at  the  east  end  of  the 
hill.  It  is  a  massy  substantial  building,  supposed  to  have 
been  built  in  the  time  of  the  Crusades,  as  there  are  many 
crosses  of  the  templars  on  its  architecture.  The  Mos¬ 
lems  have  broken  away  one  of  the  limbs  of  each  of  the 
crosses  in  their  zeal  to  shape  them  into  the  form  of  a 
crescent.  Within  the  area  of  the  church,  there  is  a  tomb 

*  The  word  in  the  original  may  signify  either  the  bare  vine-shoots, 
or  the  plat  of  ground  where  the  vines  are  planted. 

21 


222 


SAM  ARIA-SCENERY. 


where  tradition  says  that  John  the  Baptist  was  buried 
Having  obtained  lights,  we  descended  twenty-one  steps 
into  a  handsome  vault,  the  floor  of  which  was  tesselated 
with  marble.  There  were  five  niches  for  the  dead.  The 
centre  one  was  said  to  be  that  of  the  Baptist,  and  the 
door  had  a  hinge  of  stone  like  the  remarkable  doors  in 
the  sepulchres  of  the  kings  at  Jerusalem.  “  Now,”  said 
our  friend  Giuseppe  with  great  gravity,  “  Tell  your  father 
when  you  go  back  to  your  own  country,  that  you  have 
seen  the  tomb  of  John  the  Baptist !” 

But  the  natural  scenery  of  Samaria  had  greater 
charms  for  us.  The  situation  of  the  city  is  worthy  of 
particular  notice.  The  sun,  about  two  hours  from  set¬ 
ting,  was  gilding  the  whole  country  with  his  mellowed 
rays,  while  we  stood  and  gazed  around.  We  could 
plainly  see  the  meaning  of  Isaiah’s  description,  “  Wo  to 
the  crown  of  pride,  to  the  drunkards  of  Ephraim,  on  the 
head  of  the  fat  valleys  of  them  that  are  overcome  with 
wine.”  *  The  valley  near  the  head  of  which  the  hill  of 
Samaria  stands,  is  even  now  rich  in  olive-trees,  and  pro¬ 
bably  abounded  in  vineyards  and  gardens  in  former 
days,  while  the  hill  itself,  covered  with  palaces  and  tow¬ 
ers,  rose  over  it  like  a  glorious  crown.  The  natural 
strength  of  the  position  of  the  city  at  once  suggested  the 
true  force  of  the  words  of  Amos,  “  Wo  to  them  that  trust 
in  the  mountain  of  Samaria.”  f 

Within  half  an  hour’s  distance  of  the  hill  on  the  north 
and  south,  and  still  nearer  on  the  east,  the  ring  of  lofty 
hills  which  enclose  the  valley  of  Samaria  begins  to  rise. 
These  are  what  the  Scripture  calls  “  the  mountains  of 
Samaria .”  They  encompass  the  city,  so  that  in  the 
days  of  Israel’s  glory,  when  they  were  all  clad  in  vine¬ 
yards,  the  capital  would  appear  encircled  by  plenty  and 
luxuriance.  The  days  are  coming,  when  these  same 
“  mountains  of  Samaria”  shall  again  be  clothed  more 
luxuriantly  than  ever,  and  cultivated  by  the  hands  of 
ransomed  Israel ;  for  the  same  unerring  word  that  fore¬ 
told  the  present  desolation,  has  foretold  the  coming  glory, 
“  Thou  shalt  yet  plant  vines  upon  the  mountains  of  Sa¬ 
maria  ;  the  planters  shall  plant,  and  shall  eat  them  as 
common  things.”  J 

We  remembered  the  history  of  the  siege  of  Samaria 
by  Ben-Hadad,  the  king  of  Syria,  \  and  observed  how 
easy  it  would  be  to  shut  in  such  a  city  on  every  side,  so 

*  Isa.  xxviii.  1.  Sec  Lowth’s  Note.  t  Amos.  vi.  1. 

t  Jer.  xxxi.  5.  $2  Kings  vi.  24 


VIEW  FROM  HILLS  OF  SAMARIA. 


223 


as  to  cut  off  the  supplies;  and  it  occurred  to  us,  that 
probably  the  unbelieving  lord,  who  was  trodden  to  death 
in  the  gate,  was  thrown  down  by  the  stream  of  people 
rushing  down  the  hill  toward  the  Syiian  camp. 

As  we  had  still  a  journey  of  several  hours  before  us, 
we  were  compelled  to  leave  Subuste  before  sunset.  We 
heard  the  sound  of  the  millstone  in  some  of  the  houses  as 
we  passed,  and  saw  a  man  kneeling  in  prayer  on  the  root 
of  his  house,  reminding  us  of  Peter  at  Joppa,  f  It  was  very 
pleasant  to  remember  that  along  the  road  we  had  come, 
and  on  the  spot  we  had  been  traversing,  Philip  the  Evan¬ 
gelist  preached  Christ  unto  the  people.  “  There  was  great 
joy  in  that  city”*  then— greater  than  in  the  days  of  her 
royal  magnificence,  for  Philip  brought  them  joy  fiom  the 

fountain  of  life.  _  _  _  , ,  . 

Regaining  the  public  road,  we  proceeded  due  north  to 

the  foot  of  the  hills  which  enclose  the  valley  of  Samaria, 
having  high  on  our  right  a  village  called  “  Bet-emireen, 

« the  house  of  Emirs.”  In  about  half  an  hour  we  began  to 
ascend,  and  came  to  a  romantic  village  called  Bourka, 
half-way  up  the  mountain.  The  peasants  were  all  actively 
engaged  at  the  thrashing-floor ;  their  houses  were  built 
entirely  of  mud,  but  pleasantly  surrounded  by  olive-trees, 
out  of  which  the  voice  of  the  turtle  sounded  sweetly  as  we 
passed.  Looking  back  we  saw  the  whole  of  “  the  fat  val¬ 
ley”  beautifully  illumined  by  the  last  rays  of  the  setting 
sun.  A  very  steep  and  difficult  ascent  soon  brought  us 
to  the  summit  of  the  ridge,  when  a  magnificent  scene 
burst  on  our  view.  To  the  west  lay  the  Mediterranean 
Sea,  and  that  part  of  the  plain  of  Sh  aron  which  stretches 
to  ancient  Caesarea;  to  the  north,  immediately  beneath 
us,  Wady  Gaba,  a  fine  valley  or  undulating  plain,  which 
seemed  like  a  Paradise,  watered  by  a  winding  stream, 
and  abounding  in  olive-trees.  This  stream  we  after  wai  ds 
conjectured  tobe  the  brook  Kanah  mentioned  m  Joshua. ? 
To  the  north-east  rose  the  hills  of  Galilee,  among  which 
we  thought  we  could  distinguish  Mount  Tabor  in  the  dis¬ 
tance.  At  the  head  of  the  valley  below,  appeared  a  sheet 
of  water,  the  first  we  had  yet  seen  in  this  country.  Slant¬ 
ing  down  the  mountain  side,  which  the  Arabs  called  Jebel 
Gaba,  in  a  north-easterly  direction,  we  passed  through 
the  small  village  Matalish,  and  then  through  the  village 
of  Gaba;  the  latter  may  possibly  indicate  the  position  of 


*  2  Kings  vii.  17. 
t  Acts  viii.  8. 


t  Acts  x.  9. 

$  Josh.  xvi.  8;  xvii.  9 


224  CASTLE  OF  SANOUR — POOL  OF  WATER. 

the  ancient  Gibbethon ,  where  Nadab,  the  son  of  Jero¬ 
boam,  was  slain  by  Baasha,*  for  that  town  seems  to  have 
been  near  Tirzah,  and  Tirzah  was  near  to  Samaria.  The 
moon  rose  with  great  beauty,  and  the  noise  of  the  grass¬ 
hoppers  quite  tilled  the  valley.  The  glow-worms  and  fire¬ 
flies  were  scattering  their  light  around  us.  At  length  we 
encamped  on  the  plain  opposite  Sanour.  The  time  in 
which  the  servants  were  occupied  in  putting  up  the  tents 
generally  afforded  us  a  profitable  hour  for  meditation 
and  retirement  under  the  shady  trees.  In  our  evening 
worship  together  we  read  2  Kings  vi.  which  recounts 
some  of  Elisha’s  deeds  in  Samaria. 

We  set  out  at  six  next  morning  (June  21,)  and  passed 
by  the  foot  of  a  steep  rocky  hill,  upon  which  stands  the 
ruined  castle  of  Sanour,  a  relic  of  crusading  times.  We 
were  now  within  the  borders  of  the  half-tribe  of  Manas- 
seh,  and  remarked  the  abundance  of  streams  and  the 
remnants  of  fertility,  far  exceeding  any  thing  we  had 
seen  in  the  southern  parts  of  the  country, — as  if  the  bless¬ 
ing  put  “upon  the  crown  of  the  head  of  him  that  was 
separated  fi'om  his  brethren,”  had  not  yet  passed  away. 

We  rode  alongside  of  the  large  sheet  of  water  which 
we  had  seen  the  night  before  at  the  head  of  the  valley. 
The  Arabs  called  it  Merj  Ibnama.  It  is  merely  a  gather¬ 
ing  of  water  left  by  the  latter  rains,  and  is  often  dried  up 
in  summer.  A  much  larger  supply  of  rain  than  usual 
had  fallen  this  year,  which  accounted  for  its  being  so  full 
at  this  advanced  season.  It  resembled  not  a  little  the 
Compensation  Pond  among  the  Pentland  Hills  near 
Edinburgh. 

We  came  upon  two  men  ploughing  with  oxen,  and  no¬ 
ticed  that  they  held  the  plough  only  with  one  hand.  The 
soil  appeared  rich  and  fertile.  Thousands  of  a  blue  star¬ 
shaped  flower,  the  name  of  which  we  did  not  know, 
decked  the  ground,  mingled  here  and  there  with  the  pink, 
anemone,  a  very  large  species  of  convolvulus,  and  the  tall 
plants  of  the  lavatera.  The  beautiful  hills  all  round  the 
plain  were  clothed  with  brushwood,  with  olives  and  fig- 
trees  sometimes  running  up  a  short  way  from  their  base. 

Leaving  this  pleasant  vale,  we  soon  came  to  a  height 
from  which  the  hills  of  Galilee  again  came  in  view.* 
From  this  we  descended  a  rocky  pass  into  a  rich  olive 
valley,  with  yellow  corn-fields  beyond  and  found  the 


*  1  Kings  xv.  27 ;  xvi.  15. 


TOWN  OF  JENIN — PLAIN  OF  E8DRAELON. 


225 


large  Arab  village  of  Gabatieh.  Some  of  the  houses  were 
well  built  of  stone,  others  were  entirely  of  mud.  They 
had  no  windows  except  loopholes,  and  these  generally 
looking  into  the  court  of  the  house ;  the  doors  also  were 
very  low,  perhaps  for  the  purpose  of  defence.  Emerging 
from  the  olive-grove  we  got  a  full  sight  of  its  beauty,  and 
again  remembered  the  many  Scriptures  which  compare 
the  soul  of  a  thriving  believer  to  a  green  and  vigorous  olive- 
tree.*  Two  things  seem  invariably  united  in  this  land, 
namely,  the  voice  of  the  turtle  wherever  there  is  an  olive- 
grove,  and  a  village  wherever  the  eye  discerns  verdure. 

We  met  here,  and  often  afterwards  throughout  the 
day,  camels  carrying  home  the  harvest,  with  tinkling 
bells  hanging  from  their  neck.  Many  splendidly  coloured 
butterflies  were  on  the  wing,  and  lizards  without  number 
were  seen  basking  upon  the  rocks.  Descending  a  ravine, 
still  to  the  north-east,  on  the  banks  of  a  small  stream  run¬ 
ning  in  the  same  direction,  we  reached  Jenin  in  three 
hours  from^Sanour.  This  is  the  frontier  town  of  the  great 
plain  of  Esdraelon  in  this  direction,  so  that  it  must  al¬ 
ways  have  been  a  place  of  some  importance.  It  is  be¬ 
lieved  to  be  the  ancient  Ginoea,  mentioned  in  the  wars 
of  Josephus.  It  is  still  a  considerable  town,  surrounded 
with  gardens  and  hedges  of  prickly  pear,  interspersed 
with  a  few  graceful  palm-trees,  over  which  rises  a  mosque 
with  its  pointed  minaret.  The  Bedouin  camel-drivers 
seem  to  make  it  a  place  of  rendezvous.  Many  of  their 
brown  tents  were  planted  near,  closely  resembling  our 
gipsy  encampments  ;  and  in  one  of  their  herds  we  count¬ 
ed  as  many  as  thirty  camels.  We  halted  for  a  short 
time  under  the  shade  of  a  spreading  tree,  while  our  ser¬ 
vants  went  into  the  town  to  buy  provisions. 

Turning  now  to  the  N.  W.  we  began  to  move  along 
the  edge  of  the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  the  ancient  valley  of 
Jezreel.  Very  large  fields  of  ripe  barley  occasionally 
occurred,  sometimes  a  grove  of  olive-trees,  but  oftener 
the  plain  was  waste  and  given  over  to  thorns.  It  is  mel¬ 
ancholy  to  traverse  the  finest  spots  in  this  land,  and  to 
find  them  open  and  desolate.  Even  the  highways  are 
gone,  along  which  the  chariots  of  the  kings  of  Jezreel 
used  to  run.  The  times  of  Shamgar  are  returned — “  In 
the  days  of  Shamgar  the  son  of  Anath,  in  the  days  of 
Jael,  the  highways  were  unoccupied,  and  the  travellers 
walked  through  byways.”  \  The  threatening  of  Moses 


*  See  p.  106. 


21* 


t  Judg.  v.  6. 


226 


VILLAGE  OF  RAMOUNI — WASTE  REGION. 


is  fulfilled,  “  The  land  shall  rest  and  shall  enjoy  her  Sab¬ 
baths,  while  she  lieth  desolate.”  *  We  felt  the  heat  of  the 
sun  very  intense,  while  it  poured  its  rays  down  upon  the 
plain.  Sometimes  we  sought  a  moment’s  shelter  under 
a  shady  tree,  and  sometimes  we  rode  briskly  forward  to 
create  a  refreshing  current  in  the  air.  It  was  over  these 
level  fields  that  the  Canaanites  used  to  drive  their  iron 
chariots  in  the  days  of  Joshua  ;f  and  it  was  in  these  plains 
that  Sisera  was  defeated  with  his  multitude  and  nine 
hundred  chariots  of  iron :  “  The  kings  came  and  fought, 
then  fought  the  kings  of  Canaan  in  fannach  by  the 
waters  of  Megiddo.”  \  We  saw  how  easily  Ahab  could 
ride  in  his  chariot  from  Carmel  to  Jezreel,  while  Elijah 
ran  before  him,  there  being  no  obstacle  in  all  the  plain 
and  also  how  Jehu  “could  drive  furiously” ||  as  he  came 
up  from  Jordan  toward  Jezreel.  It  was  in  another  pait 
of  the  same  valley  that  good  king  Josiah  came  to  fight 
with  Pharaoh  Necho  in  the  valley  of  Megiddo,  when  the 
archers  shot  at  him  and  wounded  him  in  his  chariot,  and 
he  died.  IT 

Leaving  the  plain  we  entered  among  the  low  swelling 
hills  on  the  west  near  a  village,  Bourkeen,  in  less  than 
three  hours  from  Jenin,  and  arrived  at  Ramouni,  (that  is, 
“  pomegranate,”)  a  village  finely  embosomed  in  fig- 
trees,  olives,  and  pomegranates,  from  the  midst  of  which 
came  the  voice  of  the  blackbird  and  tuitle-do\e.  Could 
this  be  Hcidad-rimmon ,  of  which  Zechariah  speaks,  and 
which  was  near  the  valley  of  Megiddo  1**  There  is 
space  for  a  large  town  here,  and  there  are  many  reser¬ 
voirs  of  water,  which  show  that  it  has  been  a  place  of 
some  importance.  Flocks  of  goats  were  couching  by  the 
well,  and  the  Arab  women  were  milking  them,  while  a 
boy  drew  water  in  a  skin  and  poured  it  into  the  trough. 
Our  way  lay  westward  over  the  slope  of  low  undulating 
hills,  covered  with  the  carob-tree,  and  evergreen  oak,  a 
finely  wooded  wilderness.  Immense  thistles,  having 
heads  of  a  rich  violet  hue,  Spina  Christi,  lavatera,  convol¬ 
vulus,  and  our  common  hollyhock,  were  the  most  abun¬ 
dant  plants.  We  encamped  at  noon  under  the  deep  shade 
of  a  carob-tree  of  unusual  size,  and  employed  ourselves  in 
writing  up  our  notes  and  gathering  wild  flowers.  Leaving 
at  three  o’clock,  we  rode  through  a  fine  sylvan  solitude, 
hills  and  dales,  all  wild  and  seemingly  untrodden,  yet 

*  Lev.  xxvi.  34.  t  Josh.  xvii.  16.  t  Judg.  iv.  15 ;  v.  19. 

$  1  Kings  xviii.  44.  II  2  Kings  ix.  20.  ^  2  Chron.  xxxv.  23. 

**  Zech.  xii.  11. 


VILLAGE  OF  DALEE.  22 7 

frequently  having  ruins  and  traces  of  ancient  terraces, 
which  showed  that  once  it  had  been  a  peopled  land. 

The  first  village  we  came  to  was  called  Am-el-Fehm, 
that  is,  “  mother  of  charcoal,”  probably  from  the  abun¬ 
dance  of  wood  which  clothes  the  hill  on  which  it  stands, 
and  the  whole  neigh bo*urhood.  Soon  after,  an  opening 
in  the  hills  gave  us  a  rich  prospect  to  the  north-east  over 
the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  as  far  as  the  hills  of  Nazareth, 
which  seemed  to  be  not  many  hours  distant.  Riding 
still  north-west,  the  hill  began  to  assume  a  more  barren 
aspect,  and  the  valleys  looked  sad  and  waste.  Thistles, 
browned  and  withered,  held  undisputed  reign,  and  the 
white  stones  covering  the  side  reminded  us  of  the  valley 
of  dry  bones.  Toward  sunset  the  mountains  opened  to 
the  west,  and  we  looked  down  upon  the  Mediterranean 
Sea— the  great  plain  of  waters, — and  the  line  of  coast 
near  Caisarea.  Here  our  guide  missed  the  track,  but 
after  passing  a  poor  miserable  hamlet,  Cafreen,  where 
not  a  tree  grew,  nor  a  single  shrub,  except  one  small 
cluster  of  the  prickly  pear,  we  reached  a  convenient  spot 
for  encamping  near  another  village  called  Dalee.  The 
frogs  kept  up  an  incessant  croaking  in  the  wady  be¬ 
low,  and  the  fire-flies  glistened  in  the  dusky  air.  Ibraim 
brought  a  plentiful  supply  of  rich  goat’s  milk  from  the 
village,  a  refreshing  accompaniment  to  our  evening  meal. 
We  had  this  day  been  passing  through  a  portion  of  the 
land  whose  luxuriance  used  to  be  proverbial,  and  yet  we 
had  seen  little  else  than  a  labyrinth  of  thorns  and  briery 
plants.  Isaiah  xxxii.  13,  again  came  to  mind,  and.  the 
remembrance  was  soothing,  for  as  certainly  as  the  curse 
has  been  fulfilled,  so  shall  the  blessing — “  the  Spirit  shall 
be  poured  out  from  on  high,  and  the  wilderness  be  a 
fruitful  field.” 

Next  morning  (June  22),  as  we  left  the  poor  village  of 
Dalee,  we  noticed  the  women  carrying  their  children, 
some  on  their  sides  and  some  on  their  shoulder.  We 
were  now  traversing  the  portion  of  Issachar,  whose 
“  land  was  pleasant,”  and  out  of  which  princes  came  to 
the  help  of  Deborah  :  yet  now  the  pasture  was  scorched 
and  withered,  and  the  only  traces  of  fertility  were  a  few 
patches  of  barley  and  tobacco.  As  we  approached  the 
sea  a  cool  breeze  sprung  up,  which  tempered  the  exces¬ 
sive  heat  of  the  morning.  For  about  an  hour  after  re¬ 
suming  our  journey,  the  same  features  as  before  prevailed 
over  the  country,  the  only  variety  being  a  few  Bedouin 
tents,  “tents  of  Kedar.”  In  about  an  hour  we  began  to 


228 


VILLAGE  OF  IGZIM — MEDITERRANEAN. 


descend  towards  the  west,  and  the  country  became  much 
more  fertile,  assuming  the  appearance  of  the  hill  country 
between  Bethlehem  and  Hebron.  The  swelling  hills 
were  covered  with  verdant  brushwood,  out  of  which 
issued  the  cooing  of  the  dove.  The  deep  thickets  of 
evergreen  frequently  suggested  to  us  the  idea  of  the 
ancient  groves  of  idolatry  where  they  “  inflamed  them¬ 
selves  with  idols  under  every  green  tree.”*  We  ap¬ 
proached  a  large  and  important-looking  village,  called 
Igzim.  The  houses  seemed  to  be  solidly  built  of  stone, 
and  there  were  many  large  enclosures  of  prickly  pear. 
Often,  too,  we  noticed  here,  “  the  lodge  in  a  garden  of 
cucumbers.”  f 

Instead  of  entering  the  village,  we  turned  to  the  right 
into  a  wild  pass  between  wooded  hills,  which  in  a  short 
time  became  a  rocky  defile,  with  a  single  sharp-pointed 
rock  overhanging  the  entrance.  Climbing  up  to  this 
rocky  pinnacle,  we  found  some  deep  natural  caves,  which 
may  have  afforded  a  shelter  to  the  prophets  in  the  days 
of  Elijah.  The  defile  down  which  we  had  come  issues 
suddenly  into  the  narrow  plain  along  the  sea-shore,  which 
is  a  continuation  of  the  plain  of  Sharon.  From  the  rocky 
height  this  plain  lay  stretched  at  our  feet,  and  on  the 
shore  there  were  heaps  of  rubbish  without  any  definite 
ruin,  which  mark  the  situation  of  Tortura,  the  ancient 
Dor ,  nine  miles  north  of  Caesarea,  one  of  the  towns  out 
of  which  Manasseh  was  not  able  to  drive  the  Canaanites.j; 
On  the  rocks  above  us  we  saw  the  vulture  perched  look¬ 
ing  out  for  his  prey.  After  slanting  across  the  plain, 
which  was  covered  sometimes  with  fields  of  barley, 
sometimes  with  sesamine,  and  still  oftener  lay  waste,  our 
road  lay  parallel  to  the  shore,  and  within  view  of  it ;  at 
length  we  came  upon  the  shore  of  the  Mediterranean, 
happy  again  to  meet  its  deep  blue  waters.  Proceeding 
north,  we  came  in  about  an  hour  to  a  small  stream  which 
here  runs  into  the  sea ;  its  banks  were  skirted  with  tall 
oleanders  in  full  bloom,  and  as  we  forded  the  stream 
many  tortoises  dropt  into  the  water  from  the  banks. 
Soon  after,  looking  back  we  saw  on  a  projecting  point  of 
the  shore  some  conspicuous  ruins  of  pillars  and  ancient 
buildings.  The  place  is  called  by  the  Arabs  Athlete,  and 
anciently  Castellum  Peregrinorum.  We  were  anxious 
to  press  forward,  and  therefore  did  not  turn  aside  to  ex¬ 
amine  the  ruins. 

We  remembered  with  interest  that  we  were  now  in 
Paul’s  footsteps,  when  he  travelled  with  a  few  friends  in 
*  Isa.  lvii.  5.  t  Isa.  i.  8.  f  Josh.  xvii.  11,  12. 


MOUNT  CARMEL— FIRST  IMPRESSIONS.  229 

the  opposite  direction  from  Ptoiemais  to  Caesarea.*  Four 
miles  further  north  we  came  under  the  sloping  sides  of 
Mount  Carmel,  but  it  was  some  time  before  we  could  be 
persuaded  that  it  was  really  the  hill  we  had  read  of  from 
infancy.  It  did  not  present  an  imposing  appearance ; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  seemed  low  and  almost  uninterest¬ 
ing.  One  of  our  number  exclaimed,  “Is  this  Carmel? 
Lachnagar  is  finer  than  this !”  We  had  been  expecting 
to  see  a  majestic  mountain  towering  high  over  the  sea, 
and  felt  not  a  little  disappointed  to  find  the  real  Carmel 
a  moderately  high  ridge,  becoming  less  lofty  and  conspi¬ 
cuous  as  it  approaches  the  sea,  till  it  terminates  in  a 
point  about  900  feet  in  height.  Before  we  left  Carmel, 
however,  and  especially  after  viewing  the  whole  extent 
of  it  from  the  heights  above  Acre,  this  feeling  of  disap¬ 
pointment  was  entirely  done  away. 

At  its  northern  extremity,  it  comes  very  near  the  sea, 
so  that  there  is  but  a  narrow  strip  of  land  between  the 
steep  rocky  side  of  the  mountain  and  the  shore.  Upon 
this  narrow  strip  were  pitched  a  multitude  of  tents  of  all 
shapes  and  sizes,  while  men  of  different  costumes  were 
couching  round  them,  or  wandering  along  the  beach. 
It  was  an  animating  scene,  and  would  have  been  more 
so  had  we  not  known  that  this  was  the  station  where 
we  must  perform  quarantine.  The  plague  had  been  for 
a  long  time  prevailing  in  several  parts  of  the  south  of 
Palestine,  but  it  had  not  spread  to  the  north  of  Carmel. 
Accordingly,  all  travellers  from  the  south  were  obliged 
to  rest  here  in  quarantine  for  fourteen  days,  or,  if  they 
consented  to  have  all  their  clothes  bathed  in  the  sea,  for 
seven  days.  We  pitched  on  the  shore,  the  waves  of  the 
sea  almost  washing  the  cords  of  our  tents,  and  an  Egyp¬ 
tian  soldier,  a  simple  good-natured  man,  was  appointed 
our  guardiano,  to  see  that  we  touched  nobody;  for 
should  it  happen  that  any  one  touch  the  person,  or 
clothes,  or  cord  of  a  tent,  of  any  other  party  in  quaran- 
tme,  they  are  obliged  to  begin  their  days  of  quarantine 
anew. 

The  view  which  we  enjoyed  from  our  tent-door  was 
every  way  splendid.  The  deep  blue  Mediterranean  was 
in  front  of  us,  bounded  only  by  the  horizon.  On  the 
right  was  the  beautiful  Bay  of  Acre,  round  the  whole 
sweep  of  which  the  eye  could  wander,  uninterrupted  ex¬ 
cept  by  the  distant  battlements  of  the  town,  or  by  small 
native  vessels  sailing  past.  In  the  distant  background 
rose  Jebel  Sheikh,  the  ancient  Hermon, f  which  “the  Si- 

*  Acts  xxi.  8.  t  Deut.  iii  9. 


230  MOUNT  CARMEL — QUARANTINE — SABBATH. 

donians  called  Sii'ion,  and  the  Amorites  Shenir  a 
noble  mountain,  where  were  “  the  lions’  dens  and  the 
mountains  of  the  leopards.”  *  The  sea-breeze  was  pleas¬ 
ant  and  refreshing,  and  we  had  the  pleasure  of  bathing 
daily  in  the  cool  waters ;  but  the  sand  often  glowed  like 
a  furnace,  and  the  thermometer  was  generally  86°  F.  day 
and  night.  It  was  here  that  Giuseppe,  the  native  of  Beth¬ 
lehem  who  accompanied  us  from  Jerusalem,  took  leave 
of  us.  He  insisted  on  our  giving  him  a  backshish,  which 
we  could  not  refuse,  although  we  considered  that  the 
favour  was  all  on  our  side.  He  kissed  our  hands  again 
and  again,  bidding  us  Addio. 

The  next  morning  was  the  Sabbath  (June  23,)  and  we 
welcomed  the  day  of  rest.  Quietly  seated  in  our  tents, 
we  read  over  and  meditated  upon  the  history  of  Elijah, 
especially  his  sacrifice  on  this  mountain  and  his  prayer, 
when  seven  different  times  he  said  to  his  attendant,  “  Go 
again.”  f  In  the  cool  of  the  evening  we  wandered  far 
from  the  tents,  and  had  delightful  leisure  and  retirement, 
and  every  assistance  from  association,  to  spread  before 
God  the  case  of  our  own  souls,  our  people,  our  land,  and 
our  journey  in  behalf  of  Israel.  We  longed  for  the  effec¬ 
tual  fervent  prayer  of  a  righteous  Elijah. 

The  greater  part  of  Monday  was  occupied  in  dipping 
our  tents,  clothes,  &c.,  in  the  sea,  while  our  books  and 
papers  were  all  fumigated, — inconveniences  to  which  we 
willingly  submitted  that  our  quarantine  might  be  short¬ 
ened  to  seven  days.  It  seems  very  doubtful  whether 
quarantines,  as  at  present  conducted,,  serve  any  good 
purpose.  A  traveller  whose  tent  was  next  to  ours  told 
us  that  his  servant,  anxious  to  spare  a  handsome  coat 
from  being  plunged  in  the  salt-water,  hung  it  up  among 
the  drying  clothes  as  if  it  had  been  immersed  in  the  sea. 
Our  own  guardiano,  whenever  he  came  to  any  article 
of  value,  proposed  with  a  look  of  inexpressible  cunning, 
to  bury  it  in  the  sand  till  the  fumigating  was  over,  and 
seemed  not  to  understand  why  we  would  not  agree  to  it. 
The  operations  of  this  day  made  us  understand  better 
the  command  so  frequently  given  in  the  ceremonial  law, 
“He  shall  wash  his  clothes  and  be  unclean  till  evening.”! 

The  remaining  days  of  this  week  were  spent  in  ex¬ 
tending  our  notes,  writing  letters  to  the  Committee  of 
our  Church,  and  to  friends  at  home,  in  preparing  our¬ 
selves  for  further  inquiries  concerning  Israel,  and  in  soli- 


*  Song  iv.  8. 


t  1  Kings  xviii.  43. 


t  Lev.  xi.  40,  &c« 


INFORMATION  FROM  OTHER  TRAVELLERS.  231 

tary  meditations  while  we  rambled  along  the  shore.  The 
heat  was  uniformly  great.  Before  dawn,  indeed,  and 
toward  sunset,  there  was  generally  a  pleasant  breeze, 
but  on  account  of  the  nearness  of  the  sea,  the  heat  was 
as  great  at  night  as  through  the  day.  The  food  furnish¬ 
ed  to  us  was  simple  and  wholesome.  The  inhabitants 
of  the  neighbouring  town  of  Khaifa  brought  water¬ 
melons,  and  cusas,  and  fruits  in  abundance.  Water, 
however,  was  sometimes  scarce,  there  being  but  one 
well  to  supply  the  quarantine,  and  that  one  not  very 
plentiful.  We  had  long  been  strangers  to  the  luxury  of 
sitting  upon  a  chair,  and  now  felt  the  want  of  that  accom¬ 
modation  less  than  we  should  otherwise  have  done.  Still, 
the  uneasy  position  of  sitting  upon  the  sand  with  our 
writing-desk  supported  on  our  knees,  made  the  labour 
of  writing  in  such  a  climate  much  greater  than  any  one 
can  imagine  who  has  not  made  the  same  attempt. 

Lord  Hamilton  and  Mr.  Littleton  were  fellow-prisoners 
with  us;  and  in  a  tent  at  some  distance  from  us,  Lord 
Rokeby,  an  English  nobleman,  who  also  had  been  travel¬ 
ling  in  these  countries.  Stretched  upon  the  sand  at  re¬ 
spectful  distances,  under  the  eye  of  our  guardiano,  we 
held  friendly  conferences  on  the  wonders  we  had  seen. 
Dr.  Keith  frequently  applied  and  expounded  the  prophe¬ 
cies  of  the  Word  of  God.  On  one  occasion,  in  speaking 
of  the  wild  animals  that  are  found  in  the  land  at  present, 
Lord  Hamilton  mentioned  that  his  servant  had  seen 
during  the  preceding  night  two  lynxes  from  Mount  Car¬ 
mel,  with  bright  glaring  eyes,  quite  near  the  tents.  Near 
the  Jordan,  too,  they  had  seen  many  wild  boars  and 
lynxes ;  and  at  Jenin,  before  dawn  one  morning,  his  ser¬ 
vant  had  seen  sixteen  Irenas  at  one  time. 

Sometimes  when  the  tide  retired  (for  there  is  an  ebb 
and  flow  of  a  few  feet  at  this  place),  we  gathered  shells 
and  sponge  among  the  rocks.  We  saw  some  of  our 
neighbours  seeking  for  specimens  of  the  shell-fish  from 
which,  in  ancient  times,  used  to  be  extracted  the  famous 
purple  dye.  We  did  not  see  them  find  any  specimens, 
but  were  told  that  still  this  is  found  here.  It  used  to  be 
found  in  all  perils  of  the  Bay,  and  there  were  two  kinds 
of  it.  One  of  these  yielded  a  dark  blue  colour,  the  other 
a  brighter  tint,  like  scarlet ;  and  by  mingling  together 
these  two  juices,  the  true  purple  colour  was  obtained. 
It  was  thus  that  Asher,  whose  rich  and  beautiful  plain 
supplied  viands  fit  for  the  table  of  kings,  yielded  also  the 
dye  of  their  royal  robes,  conveyed  to  many  a  distant 


232  MOUNT  CARMEL — SIR  MOSES  MONTEFIORE. 

court  by  the  merchants  of  Tyre  and  Sidon.  And  thus 
we  see  the  full  meaning  of  Jacob’s  blessing  on  Asher 
“he  shall  yield  royal  dainties.”* 

Grasshoppers  abounded  in  the  fields  between  the  short! 
and  the  hill,  and  we  found  a  few  scorpions  of  a  black 
colour ;  small,  but  dangerous  on  account  of  their  venom. 
One  evening,  when  we  were  walking  along  the  beach, 
our  guardiano  discovered  one.  He  instantly  stamped 
upon  it  with  his  foot,  and  afterwards  showed  us  its  sting. 
This  reminded  us  of  the  asp  on  whose  hole  the  “  sucking 
child  shall  play.”f 

We  enjoyed  the  view  of  several  magnificent  sunsets 
here.  One  evening  especially  the  sun  went  down  be¬ 
hind  the  great  waters,  tinging  a  vast  array  of  fleecy 
clouds  with  the  most  gorgeous  crimson.  In  the  course 
of  the  week,  Sir  Moses  Montefiore  and  his  company 
arrived  in  quarantine,  pitching  their  tents  a  little  way  to 
the  south  of  us.  He  kindly  sent  us  a  present  of  a  fine 
water-melon,  and  afterwards  two  bottles  of  the  “  wine  of 
Lebanon,”  procured  from  the  convent  on  Mount  Carmel. 
If  this  was  a  fair  sample  of  that  famous  wine,  it  must 
have  lost  much  of  its  excellence  since  the  days  of  Hosea,{ 
for  it  is  not  very  pleasant  to  the  taste.  It  has  the  same 
peculiar  flavour  with  the  wine  of  Cyprus,  a  flavour  said 
to  be  communicated  by  the  tar  put  upon  the  thread  with 
which  the  skins  containing  the  wine  are  sewed.  Sir 
Moses  and  Dr.  Keith  frequently  walked  on  the  beach, 
conversing  on  the  prophecies  that  had  been  fulfilled  in 
the  desolations  of  the  land,  a  subject  to  which  the  former 
had  evidently  paid  a  good  deal  of  attention ;  but  he  posi¬ 
tively  declined  all  reference  to  the  New  Testament. 
During  the  greater  part  of  Saturday,  although  the  heat 
was  very  great,  he  and  his  lady,  and  a  medical  attendant, 
who  was  a  very  bigoted  Jew,  went  through  the  Jewish 
service  with  scrupulous  attention. 

On  Friday  evening  (June  28),  a  party  of  Egyptian 
Arab  soldiers  of  the  Pasha  came  into  quarantine  and  en¬ 
camped  beside  us.  They  were  rude  undisciplined  bar¬ 
barians,  having  nothing  but  their  pikes  and  muskets, 
which  they  fixed  by  sticking  the  bayonets  into  the  sand. 
They  had  often  noisy  quarrels  with  one  another,  and 
sometimes  as  we  passed  their  tents,  half  in  jest,  half  in 

*  Gen.  xlix.  20.  The  original  word  means  whatever  de¬ 

lights  and  regales,  and  its  cognate  is  expressly  applied  to  dress  in 
2  Sam.  i.  24. 

+  Isa.  xi.  8.  t  Hos.  xiv.  7. 


QUARANTINE — CASE  OF  PLAGUE. 


233 


earnest,  would  level  their  muskets  at  us,  crying,  “  Naza- 
rani At  night,  we  heard  them  chanting  their  Arab 
songs  in  the  same  way  as  we  had  heard  our  Egyptians 
do  in  the  desert, — a  single  voice  leading,  and  a  chorus 
responding  with  clapping  of  hands.* 

On  the  Saturday,  a  woman  and  her  two  children,  in  a 
tent  within  a  few  yards  of  ours,  were  declared  by  the 
physician  to  be  ill  of  plague.  This  was  a  solemn  intima¬ 
tion  in  such  circumstances ;  but  we  remembered  the 
91st  Psalm,  and  entrusted  ourselves  more  entirely  to  Him 
who  had  brought  us  hitherto.  None  of  the  cases  proved 
fatal  during  our  stay.  We  had  a  longing  desire  to  as¬ 
cend  the  summit  of  Mount  Carmel,  that  we  might  see 
the  place  from  whence  Elijah’s  servant  saw  the  cloud  no 
bigger  than  a  man’s  hand,  and  that  we  might  fully  un¬ 
derstand  the  Scripture  references  to  it,  several  of  which 
did  not  at  that  time  appear  so  exactly  suitable  as  we  had 
found  the  references  in  regard  to  other  places.  But  the 
regulations  of  quarantine  would  not  permit  us  to  wander 
to  so  great  a  distance.  For  the  present,  therefore,  we 
were  satisfied  to  skirt  the  foot  of  the  hill,  and  to  examine 
the  large  caverns  which  are  to  be  found  there.  The 
limestone  rock  of  this  mountain  abounds  in  them  ;  and 
in  some  such  cave  Obadiah  hid  the  Lord’s  prophets,  and 
fed  them  with  bread  and  water.f  We  were  assured  that 
there  are  no  caves  on  the  summit  of  the  mountain,  so 
that  it  cannot  be  in  reference  to  them  that  Amos  speaks 
of  sinners  hiding  “  in  the  top  of  Carmel.”  \ 

On  Sabbath  morning  (June  30,)  after  worshipping  to¬ 
gether  in  our  tent,  we  had  separated  for  the  day  to  pass 
the  forenoon  in  retirement,  when  suddenly  we  were 
roused  by  hearing  loud  cannonading  from  the  opposite 
side  of  the  bay,  and,  looking  up,  saw  the  town  of  Acre 
enveloped  in  smoke.  This  continued  for  nearly  an  hour. 
What  it  meant  we  could  not  imagine ;  but  at  last  a  cou¬ 
rier  arrived  from  Acre,  to  announce  that  the  Pasha’s 
army  had  gained  a  great  victory  at  Nezib,  and  that  he 
had  commanded  all  the  large  towns  to  celebrate  it  by  re¬ 
joicings  during  three  days.  This  information  was  good 
news  to  us,  and  for  a  time  set  our  minds  considerably  at 
rest.  Our  days  of  quarantine  were  now  expired,  though 
we  did  not  intend  to  leave  till  Monday ;  but  the  question 
with  us  was, — Are  we  to  cross  the  country  to  Galilee,  to 
inquire  into  the  state  of  the  Jews  in  that  interesting  re¬ 
gion,  or  must  we  give  up  this  fondly-cherished  hope,  and 
*  See  p.  61.  +  1  Kings  xviii.  13.  I  Amos  ix.  3. 

22 


234 


ASCEND  MOUNT  CARMEL. 


proceed  by  water  to  Beyrout  1  This  had  occupied  much 
of  our  consideration  the  preceding  day.  The  reports  of 
the  state  of  the  country  were  very  contradictory,  some 
affirming  that  the  Arabs,  in  absence  of  the  Pasha’s  troops, 
were  infesting  the  roads,  plundering  and  murdering  in 
every  direction ;  others  declaring  that  there  was  little 
danger.  Now,  however,  we  joyfully  concluded  that  the 
news  of  the  victory  would  overawe  the  Arabs,  and  open 
our  way  into  Galilee.  This  gave  us  more  rest  of  mind 
for  enjoying  the  Sabbath,  till  the  evening,  when  the  Vice 
Consul  of  Khaifa  paid  us  a  visit  which  overthrew  all  our 
hopes.  He  came  to  say  that  the  state  of  the  roads  to¬ 
wards  Galilee  was  so  dangerous,  that  he  would  not  pro¬ 
vide  horses  for  us  on  the  morrow,  since  in  that  case  he 
would  be  held  responsible  for  our  safety.  Our  course 
was  now  decided,  and  we  made  up  our  minds  to  sail 
along  the  coast  to  Beyrout. 

Meanwhile,  in  the  cool  of  evening,  we  ascended  Mount 
Carmel  by  a  deep  and  rocky  ravine  a  little  way  to  the 
south.  We  conversed  together  on  Elijah’s  wonderful 
answer  to  prayer  obtained  on  this  mountain,  and  felt 
that  we  could  well  spend  the  evening  of  the  holy  day  in 
such  a  place.  Having  soon  reached  the  summit,  a  con¬ 
siderable  way  above  the  Latin  Convent,  we  sat  down  at 
a  point  commanding  a  full  view  of  the  sea  to  the  west 
and  to  the  north.  Near  this  must  have  been  the  spot 
where  Elijah  prayed  when  he  went  up  to  the  top  of  Car¬ 
mel,  and  cast  himself  down  upon  the  earth  and  put  his 
face  between  his  knees,  and  said  to  his  servant,  “  Go  up 
now,  look  toward  the  sea.  And  he  went  up,  and  looked, 
and  said,  There  is  nothing.  And  Elijah  said, 4  Go  again,’ 
seven  times.”*  There  we  united  in  praying  for  abund¬ 
ance  of  rain  to  our  own  souls,  our  friends,  and  our  peo¬ 
ple,  and  for  the  progress  of  our  mission,  which  seemed 
for  a  time  impeded.  It  was  awfully  solemn  to  kneel  on 
the  lonely  top  of  Carmel.  The  sun  was  going  down  be¬ 
yond  the  sea,  the  air  was  cool  and  delightfully  pure 
scarcely  a  breath  of  wind  stirred  the  leaves,  yet  the  frag¬ 
rant  shrubs  diffused  their  pleasant  odours  on  every  side. 
A  true  Sabbath  stillness  rested  on  the  sea  and  on  the 
hill.  The  sea  washes  the  foot  of  the  hill  on  each  side, 
and  stretches  out  full  in  front  till  lost  in  the  distance. 
To  the  east  and  north-east  lies  that  extension  of  the 
splendid  plain  of  Esdraelon  which  reaches  to  the  white 
walls  of  Acre,  and  through  which  “  that  ancient  river, 

*  1  Kings  xviii.  42,  43. 


VIEW  FROM  MOUNT  CARMEL. 


235 


the  river  Kishon ,”  was  winding  its  way  to  the  sea,  not 
far  from  the  foot  of  Carmel.  These  are  the  waters  that 
swept  away  the  enemies  of  Deborah  and  Barak,*  and  that 
were  made  red  by  the  blood  of  the  prophets  of  Baal,  after 
Elijah’s  miraculous  sign  of  fire  from  heaven.  To  the  south 
is  seen  the  narrow  plain  between  the  mountains  and  the 
sea  which  afterwards  expands  into  the  plain  of  Sharon. 
And  along  the  ridge  of  Mount  Carmel  itself  is  a  range 
of  eminences,  extending  many  miles  to  the  south-east,  all 
of  them  presenting  a  surface  of  table-land  on  the  top, 
sometimes  bare  and  rocky,  and  sometimes  covered  with 
mountain  shrubs.  On  some  of  these  heights,  the  thou¬ 
sands  of  Israel  assembled  to  meet  Elijah,  when  he  stood 
forth  before  them  all  and  said,  “How  long  halt  ye  between 
two  opinions !”  and  from  this  sea  they  carried  up  the 
water  that  drenched  his  altar ;  and  here  they  fell  on  their 
faces  and  cried,  “  Jehovah,  he  is  the  God  !  Jehovah,  he  is 
the  God !” 

The  view  we  obtained  that  evening  on  Mount  Carmel 
can  never  be  forgotten.  No  scene  we  had  witnessed 
surpassed  its  magnificence,  and  the  features  of  it  are  still 
as  fresh  in  our  memory  as  if  we  had  gazed  on  it  but  yes¬ 
terday.  It  was,  moreover,  a  most  instructive  scene ;  we 
saw  at  once  the  solution  of  all  our  difficulties  in  regard 
to  the  Scriptural  references  to  this  hill.  Carmel  is  not 
remarkable  for  height;  and  is  nowhere  in  Scripture 
celebrated  for  its  loftiness.  At  the  point  overhanging 
the  sea,  we  have  seen  that  it  is  less  than  900  feet  high. 
To  the  south-east  it  rises  to  the  height  of  1200  feet,  which 
is  its  greatest  altitude.  But  then  the  range  of  hills  runs 
nearly  eight  miles  into  the  country,  and  was  in  former 
days  fruitful  to  a  proverb.  Indeed,  the  name  Carmel, 
signifying  “  a  fruitful  field,”  was  given  to  it  evidently  for 
this  reason.  And  when  this  vast  extent  of  fruitful  hills 
was  covered  over  with  vineyards,  olive-groves,  and 
orchards  of  figs  and  almond-trees,  not  on  the  sides  alone, 
but  also  along  the  table-land  of  its  summit — would  not 
Carmel,  worthy  of  the  name,  appear  an  immense  hang¬ 
ing  garden  in  the  midst  of  the  land!  in  the  days  of  its 
pristine  luxuriance,  before  the  curse  of  God  blasted  its 
glory,  “  the  excellency  of  Carmel,”  f  of  which  the  prophet 
speaks,  must  have  been  truly  wonderful !  How  easy  at 
that  time  it  would  have  been  “to  hide  in  the  top  of  Car¬ 
mel  l  for  embowering  vines  and  deep  shady  fig-trees 
would  afford  a  covert  for  many  a  mile  along  the  summit. 

*  Judg.  v.  21.  t  Isa.  xxxv  2.  t  Amos  ix.  3, 


236 


MOUNT  CARMEL-— PROPHECY. 


And  would  not  the  beholder  in  other  days  at  once  un¬ 
derstand  the  meaning  of  the  beautiful  description  of  the 
Church  given  in  the  Song,  “  Thine  head  upon  thee  is  like 
Carmel  *  Would  not  the  jewellery  and  ornaments,  or 
perhaps  the  wreath  of  flowers,  around  the  head  of  an 
Eastern  bride,  resemble  the  varied  luxuriance  of  the  gar¬ 
dens  of  Carmel  seen  from  afar  1  There  are  at  present  in 
the  Convent  garden  on  the  hill  a  few  vines  that  produce 
excellent  grapes;  but  these  are  all  that  now  remain  to 
testify  of  the  spot  where  Uzziah  had  his  vine-dressers. f 
With  the  exception  of  these,  which  are  not  properly  on 
the  summit  of  the  hill,  we  could  not  descry  a  single  fruit- 
tree  on  the  top  of  Carmel.  A  few  verdant  olive-trees 
grow  at  the  northern  roots  of  the  hill,  and  some  extend 
a  short  way  up  the  side ;  but  the  extensive  summit,  which 
was  once  like  a  garden,  was  covered  as  far  as  our  eye 
reached  with  wild  mountain  shrubs  and  briery  plants, 
all  of  stunted  growth,  except  where  the  rock  lay  bare 
and  without  verdure  under  the  scorching  sun.  The 
same  God  who  said,  “  Zion  shall  be  ploughed  like  a  field,” 
and  “  I  will  pour  the  stones  of  Samaria  down  into  the 
valley,”  said  also,  11  The  top  of  Carmel  shall  wither \ 
and  that  word  we  saw  before  our  eyes  fulfilled  to  the 
letter. 

We  had  a  fine  chain  of  Divine  truth  before  us  in  the 
references  made  by  the  prophets  to  this  mountain. 
Amos  represents  the  guilty  sinner  detected,  though  he 
was  to  hide  in  its  top,  or  plunge  into  the  sea  at  its  foot. 
Solomon  shows  the  sinner  justified  in  a  Redeemer’s 
righteousness,  beautiful  as  Carmel.  Micah  alludes  to  its 
rich  pastures,  when  he  would  express  the  care  of  the 
great  Shepherd  in  feeding  his  justified  ones,  or  restored 
Israel,  and  says,  “  Feed  thy  people ,  which  (at  present) 
dwell  solitary  in  the  wood,  in  the  midst  of  Carmel .”  § 
And  when  Isaiah  would  describe  the  fruitfulness  and 
beauty  of  the  New  Earth,  he  can  say  nothing  higher  than 
this,  “  The  excellency  of  Carmel  shall  be  given  unto  it.” 

Refreshed  in  spirit,  we  descended  through  a  deep 
ravine,  each  side  of  which  was  fragrant  with  sweet¬ 
smelling  briers.  Among  other  plants  there  was  abun¬ 
dance  of  the  Poterium  spinosum,  such  as  we  had  found 
in  the  Valley  of  Eshcol.  We  reached  the  shore  before 
it  was  dark. 

Early  next  morning,  (July  1)  we  saw  an  interesting 

t  2  Chron.  xxvi.  10. 

§  Mic.  vii.  14. 


*  Song  vii.  5. 
1  Amos  i.  2. 


JEWS  VISIT  SIR  MOSES  MONTEFIORE — -KIiAlF  A.  23? 


scene.  About  twenty  Jews  from  Khaifa  came  along  the 
shore  to  the  tent  of  Sir  Moses  Montefiore,  to  show  him 
respect  before  his  departure.  They  were  of  all  ages,  and 
most  of  them  dressed  in  the  Eastern  manner.  It  was 
affecting  to  see  so  many  of  them  marching  in  a  body  in 
their  own  land. 

Having  determined  to  sail  from  Khaifa  to  Beyrout  in  a 
coasting  vessel,  we  struck  our  tents,  passed  the  barrier, 
and  bade  farewell  to  the  quarantine  and  our  kindly  guar- 
diano.  We  proceeded  through  the  little  plain  of  Khaifa, 
by  the  foot  of  Carmel  on  the  north,  rich  in  vegetable  gar¬ 
dens,  with  some  fine  figs  and  olives.  The  entrance  to 
the  town  is  between  hedges  of  prickly  pear.  Here  we 
met  an  old  Jew,  originally  from  Vienna,  who  had  been 
unable  to  keep  up  with  the  rest  in  their  visit  to  Sir  Moses, 
and  was  lingering  near  the  town  ;  he  wore  the  broad- 
brimmed  German  hat  and  black  Polish  gown.  We  spoke 
to  him  in  German,  and  found  him  very  affable.  He  took 
two  German  tracts  and  one  in  Hebrew,  and  after  briefly 
telling  him,  in  Scripture  language,  his  need  of  pardon, 
and  that  it  came  through  Messiah,  we  separated,  never 
to  meet  till  the  day  of  Christ. 

A  simple  incident  here  vividly  recalled  a  Scripture  nar¬ 
rative.*  A  young  Jew  who  had  been  out  at  the  quaran¬ 
tine,  was  returning  before  us ;  and  he  had  come  away, 
probably,  before  the  morning  meal,  and  now  felt  hungry, 
for  he  stopped  under  a  spreading  fig-tree,  and,  looking 
up,  searched  the  branches  for  a  ripe  fig,  but  in  vain. 

Khaifa  is  enclosed  with  walls,  and  appeared  a  neat 
little  town.  We  found  our  way  to  the  synagogue,  and 
by  this  time  most  of  the  Jews  had  returned  from  their 
visit  to  Sir  Moses.  There  were  about  thirty  in  the  syna¬ 
gogue,  all  wearing  the  Tallith  or  shawl  with  fringes,  and 
the  Tephillim  or  phylacteries,  because  this  was  the  hour 
of  morning  prayer.  We  conversed  a  little  with  three  or 
four  Russian  Jews  who  spoke  German,  and  told  them 
our  object  in  coming  from  Scotland.  On  our  asking  what 
they  expected  Messiah  would  do  at  his  coming,  one  of 
them  said  nobody  could  ever  know  that;  and  this  he 
proved  by  turning  to  Daniel  xii.  9, — “The  words  are 
closed  up  and  sealed  to  the  time  of  the  end.”  In  this  way 
he  evaded  the  subject  of  a  suffering  Messiah.  We  showed 
them  from  Isaiah  i.  15,  “When  ye  make  many  prayers 
I  will  not  hear,”  that  their  many  prayers  would  not  jus¬ 
tify  them  before  God.  They  answered,  “  We  do  not 

*  Matt.  xxi.  18,  19. 

22* 


\ 


238 


SAIL  FROM  KHAIFA— -ACRE — ZEEB— TYRE. 


make  many  prayers ;  our  prayers  are  very  few.”  We 
pressed  them  also  with  Ezek.  xxxvi.  26,. to  show  them 
that  Israel  at  present  have  a  heart  of  stone,  and  that  they 
need  a  change  of  heart.  Altogether  they  were  most 

•  ii 

UThere  were  several  boys  present,  and  they  too  wore 
the  Tepliillim.  Several  of  the  little  children  came  up  to 
us,  kissed  our  hands,  and  laid  them  on  their  heads,  that 
we  might  bless  them  in  the  Jewish  manner,  i  hey  little 
knew  how  truly  we  longed  that  God  would  pour  out  his 
blessing  upon  Israel’s  seed,  and  his  Spirit  on  their  oil- 
spring.  One  fine  little  boy  followed  us  to  the  boat,  and 
lingered  on  the  shore  till  we  had  fairly  sailed.  When 
we  reached  the  shore,  the  men  were  busy  in  getting 
ready  the  vessel, — a  large  open  boat  without  cat^m’ 
even  without  an  awning.  A  man  and  a  boy  had  the 
management  of  it,  a  poor  remnant  of  the  Phoenician 
sailors  so  famous  of  old.  As  we  sailed,  the  town  looked 
well  from  the  sea,  adorned  with  some  graceful  palm-trees. 
The  flags  of  Britain  and  France  were  floating  together 
on  the  roof  of  the  Vice-Consul’s  house,  and  the  Egyptian 
flag,  bearing  the  crescent  and  star  on  a  blood-red  ground, 
waved  over  the  fort.  Behind  rose  Mount  Carmel,  sti  etch¬ 
ing  into  the  country  in  what  seemed  an  unbroken  range, 
bare  and  withered ;  and  we  could  now  understand  well 
the  prophet’s  description,  “Carmel  by  the.  sea,  '  loi  ns 
northern  extremity  seems  to  descend  into  the  very 
waters.  The  swell  of  the  sea  soon  became  unpleasant, 
the  vessel  rocked  with  every  breeze,  and  we  were  ex¬ 
posed  unprotected  to  the  burning  rays  of  the  sun.  YVe 
sailed  past  Acre,  presenting  a  fine  but  not  a  formidable 
appearance.  It  is  the  ancient  Ptolemais,  where  Paul 
abode  one  day.f  The  men  soon  after  pointed  to  Zeeb, 
the  ancient  Achzib ,  one  of  the  cities  of  Asher,  from  which 
he  could  not  drive  the  Canaanites.}  It  stands  upon  a 
slope  near  the  sea.  By  sunset  we  were  opposite 
“  the  strong  city,”  and  could  distinguish  clearly  the  pait 
that  was  once  an  island.  Here  the  breeze  died  away, 
and.  we  were  becalmed  for  many  hours.  We  spent  a 
painful  night  exposed  to  the  heavy  dew;  but  lemember- 
ino-  how  our  Master  slept  in  just  such  a  vessel  as  this, 
we  were  still.  At  break  of  day  we  found  ourselves  op¬ 
posite  Saida,  the  ancient  Ziclon,  and  could  hear  the  dis¬ 
tant  sound  of  the  rejoicings  in  the  town  m  honour  or  the 
recent  victory.  Soon  the  range  of  Lebanon  appealed, 

*  Jer.  xlvi.  18.  +  Acts  xxi.  7.  t  Josh.  xix.  29.  Judg  i.  31. 


ARRIVAL  AT  BEYROUT — MISSIONARIES. 


239 


rising  up  to  the  clouds  in  tranquil  majesty.*  About 
eleven  o’clock  the  promontory  called  Ras-el-Beyrout 
came  in  sight,  and  in  a  little  time  we  sailed  into  the 
harbour  of  Beyrout.  We  were  thankful  to  land  and  es¬ 
cape  the  discomforts  of  a  Syrian  boat,  which  we  had 
been  experiencing  for  twenty-eight  hours. 

The  town  has  a  fine  appearance,  the  rising  ground  be¬ 
hind  being  studded  with  villas,  and  completely  clothed 
with  verdant  gardens  and  mulberry  plantations.  A  di¬ 
lapidated  castle  runs  out  into  the  sea,  in  the  midst  of  a 
singularly  beautiful  bay,  and  over  all  rise  the  towering 
heights  of  Lebanon. 

The  public  rejoicings  were  going  on ;  the  inhabitants 
were  all  dressed  in  their  finest  clothes;  some  moved 
through  the  streets  with  instruments  of  music,  singing 
and  clapping  of  hands ;  some  were  carried  in  palanquins, 
and  some  had  mock-fights  to  the  sound  of  music.  We 
were  glad  to  find  refuge  in  the  inn  of  Giuseppe,  a  Greek 
Christian,  the  first  inn  we  had  met  with  since  leaving 
Alexandria. 

We  were  soon  waited  on  by  two  of  the  American 
Missionaries  who  are  stationed  here,  Mr.  Thompson  and 
Mr.  Hebard,  who  showed  us  every  kindness.  They 
seemed  to  be  earnest,  devoted  men,  and  have  been  bless¬ 
ed  with  considerable  success.  They  have  a  regular 
Arabic  service  every  Lord’s  day,  attended  by  sometimes 
more  than  a  hundred  hearers,  who  are  chiefly  Christians 
of  the  Greek,  Latin,  and  Armenian  Churches.  They 
have  very  efficient  Sabbath  schools  for  the  young,  and 
their  week-day  schools  are  attended  by  sixty  boys  and 
forty  girls.  In  addition  to  these,  they  have  a  seminary 
for  raising  up  native  teachers,  attended  at  present  by 
about  twenty  Syrians.  At  this  institution  they  first 
make  trial  of  the  boys  for  two  months,  and  if  in  that  time 
they  do  not  evince  sufficient  aptitude  or  talent,  their  in¬ 
struction  is  not  carried  further.  Some  of  those  attend¬ 
ing  are  Arabs ;  one  is  an  Armenian,  one  a  Maronite,  one 
a  Druse;  and  a  few  belong  to  the  Greek  Church.  The 
Missionaries  have  baptized  eighteen  persons  since  the 
commencement  of  their  labours  in  this  country.  The 
Roman  Catholics,  and  still  more  the  Maronites,  are  then 
most  implacable  and  bigoted  adversaries,  throwing  ever} 

*  Jer.  xxii.  6,  alludes  to  this  prominent  and  majestic  view  of  Lebanon. 
The  true  rendering  of  the  whole  verse  is  perhaps  as  follows : — “  Thou, 
head  of  Lebanon,  art  Gilead  (i.  e.  the  heap  of  witness )  to  me ;  surely  I 
will  make  thee  a  wilderness  of  uninhabited  cities!” — that  is,  I  call  upon 
the  towering  heights  of  Lebanon  to  bear  witness  that  I  will  do  this. 


240 


BEYROUT — DRUSES — JEWISH  CONVERTS. 


obstacle  in  their  way.  The  priests  of  both  these  sects 
would  bum  the  Bible  if  they  found  it  in  the  possession 
of  any  of  their  people.  Still,  by  means  ol  native  agency, 
the  Bible  is  distributed,  preserved,  and  read.  ine 
Greeks,  and  next  to  them  the  Armenians,  have  jar  less 
of  a  bigoted  and  persecuting  spirit.  Mr.  Hebard  labours 
here  in  the  winter  season,  but  generally  in  summer  visits 
Mount  Lebanon  and  labours  among  the  Druses.  1  nese 
are  a  singular  people,  supposed  to  have  been  ongmal  y 
Mahometans,  but  having  now  scarcely  any  religion. 
They  worship  in  secret  places,  and  have  doctrines  which 
they  make  known  only  to  the  initiated.  They  aie  very 
ignorant,  but  much  more  open  to  the  words  of  the  mis¬ 
sionary  than  the  prejudiced  Maronites. 

Several  of  the  resident  merchants  also  showed  us 
much  attention,  especially  Mr.  Heald,  Mr.  Ki  bee,  and 
some  of  our  Scottish  countrymen,  among  whom  was 
Mr.  Kinnear,  who  has  since  given  so  interesting  an  ac¬ 
count  of  his  sojourn  in  the  East.  By  a  kind  providence 
also,  we  now  met  with  Erasmus  Scott  Caiman,  a  believing 
Jew,  newly  arrived  from  England.  We  had  become  ac¬ 
quainted  with  him  in  London,  and  were  now  pi  eviden¬ 
tially  brought  together,  for  he  was  destined  to  be  our 
kind  companion  and  fellow-traveller  from  that  day  till 
we  arrived  in  England.  We  had  also  much  joy  m  meet- 
in  o-  with  Mr.  Pieritz,  once  Jewish  Rabbi  at  \  armouth, 
now  Missionary  of  the  London  Society,  along  with  Mr. 
Levi  and  Dr.  Gerstmann,  both  converted  Jews  and  la¬ 
bourers  in  the  vineyard,  the  former  laid  aside  foi  a  time 
through  bad  health,  the  other,  the  medical  missionary  at 
Jerusalem.  Some  of  the  Syrian  young  men  belonging  to 
the  American  seminary  were  very  kind  and  attentive  to 
us,  especially  two  who  could  speak  English  very  well, 
named  Abdallah  and  Habib.  The  latter  said,  “  My  name 
is  Habib,  that  is,  ‘friend,’  so  when  you  want  any  thing 
you  must  call  Habib.”  Frequently  during  our  stay  at 
Bevrout,  we  visited  the  residences  of  the  American  Mis- 
sionaries,  delightfully  situated  on  the  high  ground  to  he 
south  of  the  town,  and  about  half  a  mile  distant,  in  the 

midst  of  mulberry  gardens.  ,  , 

From  the  roof  and  windows  of  Mr.  Thompson  s  house 
we  enjoyed  a  splendid  prospect.  The  coast  of  Syria, 
indented  with  numerous  bays  stretched  far  to  the  north. 
But  we  were  chiefly  occupied  with  the  view  of  majes¬ 
tic  Lebanon.  It  is  a  noble  range  of  mountains,  we  1 
worthy  of  the  fame  it  has  so  long  maintained.  It  is  cul 


GLORY  OF  LEBANON. 


241 


tivated  in  a  wonderful  manner  by  the  help  of  terraces, 
and  is  still  very  fertile.  We  saw  on  some  of  its  emi¬ 
nences,  more  than  2000  feet  high,  villages  and  luxuriant 
vegetation,  and  on  some  of  its  peaks,  6000  feet  high,  we 
could  discern  tall  pines  against  the  clear  sky  beyond.  At 
first  the  clouds  were  resting  on  the  lofty  summit  of  the 
range,  but  they  cleared  away,  and  we  saw  Sannin,  which 
is  generally  regarded  as  the  highest  peak  of  Lebanon. 
There  is  a  deep  ravine  that  seems  to  run  up  the  whole 
way,  and  Sannin  rises  at  its  highest  extremity  to  the 
height  of  10,000  feet.  The  rays  of  the  setting  sun  gave 
a  splendid  tint  to  the  lofty  brow  of  the  mountain,  and  we 
did  not  wonder  how  the  church  of  old  saw  in  its  features 
of  calm  and  immovable  majesty  an  emblem  of  the  great 
Redeemer;  “His  countenance  is  as  Lebanon.”*  The 
snow  was  gleaming  in  many  of  its  highest  crevices,  re¬ 
minding  us  of  the  prophet’s  question,  “  Will  a  man  leave 
the  snow  of  Lebanon  1”  +  In  coming  through  the  bazaar 
we  had  seen  large  masses  of  it  exposed  for  sale.  The 
merchants  slice  it  off  the  lump,  and  sell  it  to  customers 
for  cooling  wine  and  other  liquors,  and  it  is  often  mixed 
with  a  sweet  syrup  and  drunk  in  passing  as  a  refreshing 
beverage.  Not  far  from  Sannin  the  ancient  cedars  are 
found,  a  memorial  of  the  glory  of  Lebanon.  Cedars  of 
smaller  size  are  found  also  in  other  parts  of  the  mountain. 

There  are  nearly  200,000  inhabitants  in  the  villages  of 
Lebanon,  a  population  exceeding  that  of  all  the  rest  of 
Palestine.  This  may  give  us  an  idea  of  the  former 
“  glory  of  Lebanon,”  {  and  may  explain  the  ardent  wish 
of  Moses,  “  I  pray  thee,  let  me  go  over  and  see  the  good 
land  that  is  beyond  Jordan,  that  goodly  mountain ,  even 
Lebanon.”  § 

Not  many  miles  east  of  Beyrout,  over  the  ridge  of 
Lebanon,  lies  the  beautiful  vale  of  Ccele-Syria  (hollow 
Syria)  between  Lebanon  and  Anti-Lebanon.  It  is  said 
to  be  most  fertile,  and  abounds  in  plentiful  springs  of 
water,  which  may  perhaps  be  some  of  the  “  streams  from 
Lebanon.”  ||  At  the  northern  extremity  of  that  vale  there 
is  a  considerable  town  called  Hamah,  supposed  to  be  the 
ancient  Hamath.  The  narrow  entrance  of  this  fine  val¬ 
ley  may  be  “  the  entrance  of  Hamath,”  in  the  northern 
portion  of  the  land  which  God  gave  to  Israel. IT  Ezekiel 
xlvii.  16,  joins  it  with  Berothah,  the  very  Beyrout  where 
we  then  stood.  Mr.  Thompson  informed  us  of  the  death 

*  Song  v.  15.  t  Jer.  xviii.  14.  X  Isa.  xxxv.  2. 

$  Deut  iii.  25.  II  Song  iv.  15  If  Num.  xxxiv.  8 


242  BEY  ROUT - ROMAN  REMAINS — JEWS 

of  the  well  known  Lady  Hester  Stanhope,  which  had 
taken  place  a  few  days  before  at  her  own  residence  in 
the  mountains  near  to  Sidon.  He  had  attended  her 
funeral,  and  read  the  service  over  the  grave  in  her  own 
garden.  No  Christian  was  near  her  when  she  died,  and 
not  a  para  of  money  was  found  in  the  house. 

One  evening  we  went  with  Mr.  Kilbee  to  see  the  an¬ 
cient  columns  that  are  sunk  in  the  harbour,  and  the 
remains  of  old  Mosaic  pavement  along  the  shore.  These 
are  the  relics  of  Roman  days,  when  Berytus  was  renown¬ 
ed  for  its  school  of  jurisprudence,  and  frequented  by  the 
learned  from  various  countries.  An  old  caravansera 
also  attracted  our  attention,  once  the  resort  of  merchants 
with  their  camels,  but  now  fallen  into  disuse.  It  was  a 
large  square,  with  buildings  round  the  four  sides,  the 
lower  part  affording  accommodation  for  the  animals ; 
the  upper,  furnished  with  a  gallery  all  round,  intended 
for  the  travellers  themselves.  On  the  eastern  side  of  the 
town  there  is  a  Moslem  burying-ground,  with  a  solitary 
cypress  rising  over  the  tombs.  It  was  pleasant  to  wan¬ 
der  there  and  look  out  upon  the  calm  glassy  sea  and 
Lebanon.  Nothing  can  surpass  the  softness  of  the  Syrian 
sky  at  evening.  At  such  an  hour  we  used  to  see  many 
of  the  citizens  with  their  children  on  the  roofs  of  their 
houses,  enjoying  the  cool  evening  air.  Some  even  sleep 
upon  the  roof  at  this  season  of  the  year.  Beyrout  is  one 
of  the  hottest  towns  in  all  Syria.  The  thermometer  stood 
generally  at  85°  or  90°  F.  during  the  day,  but  often  rose 
to  96°  during  the  night.  The  reason  of  this  seems  to  be, 
that  there  is  little  or  no  land  breeze,  owing  to  the  prox¬ 
imity  of  the  mountains,  so  that  there  is  perfect  stillness 
in  the  air  till  morning,  when  the  sea  breeze  commences. 

There  are  about  200  Jews  in  Beyrout.  We  visited 
them  and  their  synagogue  on  Friday  evening  at  the  com¬ 
mencement  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath.  We  found  them 
generally  ignorant  men,  with  little  of  peculiar  interest  in 
their  character. 

From  Mr.  Pieritz,  the  missionary  mentioned  above,  we 
received  much  important  information.  Speaking  of  the 
best  stations  for  the  labours  of  a  Jewish  missionary,  he 
mentioned  the  Grand  Dutch])  of  Posen  as  one  of  the 
most  promising  fields  in  the  whole  world.  There  are 
nearly  100,000  Jews  there,  among  whom  the  London 
Society  have  sent  three  labourers ;  but  there  is  room  for 
thirty.  The  Jews  there  have  been  enlightened  so  far  as 
to  be  loosened  from  the  Talmud,  and  yet  they  are  not 
Rationalists.  This  may  be  accounted  for  by  their  situa- 


MISSIONARY  STATIONS— -TRACTS  FOR  THE  JEWS.  243 

«•* 

tion  among  Protestant  Christians.  Nearly  one-half  of  all 
the  Jewish  converts  are  from  that  country,  among  whom 
are  three  of  the  Jerusalem  labourers. 

In  Moldavia  and  Wallachia  there  is  another  great  field, 
hitherto  untried.  The  cheapness  of  living  there  is  ex¬ 
traordinary,  and  the  resources  of  commerce  are  great 
and  unoccupied,  so  that  Jewish  inquirers  and  converts 
could  easily  support  themselves  independently  of  their 
brethren.  Judeo-Polish  and  Judeo-German  are  the  lan¬ 
guages  they  speak. 

From  persona]  observation,  he  also  mentioned  Gibral¬ 
tar  as  a  desirable  missionary  station.  On  one  side  lies 
the  coast  of  Barbary,  all  lined  with  Jews,  each  of  its  towns 
having  several  thousands,  and  these  men  of  singular  in¬ 
dustry.  On  the  other  side  are  Spain  and  Portugal,  where 
are  many  called  “  New  Christians,”  who  are  all  baptized 
Jews,  to  whom  a  prudent  missionary  might  find  access. 
In  Gibraltar  itself  are  about  2000  Jews,  speaking  Hebrew 
and  Spanish ;  many  of  whom  at  present  allow  their  chil¬ 
dren  to  attend  Christian  schools  there.  A  knowledge  of 
the  Arabic  language  is  required  by  a  labourer  on  the 
Barbary  coast,  and  Judeo-Spanish  on  the  European  side. 

Mr.  Pieritz  spoke  further  upon  the  subject  of  tracts 
for  the  jews.  The  most  useful  tract  for  a  Jew  is  a  plain 
Christian  tract,  such  as  one  would  give  to  a  careless  pro¬ 
fessing  Christian,  setting  before  him  the  simple  truth  of 
his  lost  condition,  and  the  death  and  atonement  of  Christ. 
This  is  much  better  than  a  deficient  controversial  tract. 
If  it  is  controversial,  it  ought  to  be  complete,  for  other¬ 
wise  a  Jew,  accustomed  as  he  is,  by  studying  the  Tal¬ 
mud,  to  acute  reasoning,  will  soon  see  its  deficiency  and 
throw  it  aside.  The  tract  “  Helps  to  Self-examination”  is 
good,  because  it  sets  before  them  the  law  that  convinces 
of  sin,  and  closes  with  prayer  for  light.  “  The  City  of  Re¬ 
fuge”  is  another  that  Mr.  Nicolayson  considered  useful. 

Some  of  Mr.  Pieritz’s  anecdotes  regarding  the  Jews  in 
Palestine  were  very  interesting.  In  Jerusalem,  a  Jew 
named  Munsternetze,  when  pressed  much  to  read  the 
Bible  for  himself,  replied,  “But  I  am  afraid.”  “Why!” 
“  Because  (said  he)  I  have  a  wife  and  children.”  He 
meant,  that  if  he  were  to  study  the  Bible,  he  would  be 
convinced  of  the  truth,  and  would,  through  the  enmity 
of  the  Jews,  reduce  his  family  to  poverty.  Six  weeks 
after  Mr.  Pieritz  came  there,  a  learned  Jew,  named 
Joseph,  visited  his  house  to  converse  with  him,  and  re¬ 
mained  from  ten  in  the  morning  till  five  at  night ,  and 
the  result  was,  that  he  would  not  read  his  rabbinical  books 


244 


BEYROUT — ACCOUNT  OF  JOSEPH,  A  JEW. 


any  more.  Not  long  after,  he  came  secretly  every  day 
and  they  read  over  together  most  of  Isaiah,  and  all  Mat¬ 
thew  critically.  One  day  he  said  that  it  had  occurred  tc 
him  that,  as  Messiah  should  have  come  just  at  the  time 
when  Christ  appeared,  it  might  be  the  case  that  Christ, 
knowing  this,  had  taken  advantage  of  it,  and  by  the  force 
of  great" genius,  had  brought  all  the-  prophecies  to  meet 
in  "himself.  Mr.  Pieritz  gave  him  Isa.  liii.  Dan.  ix.  and 
Zech.  xii.  to  compare  and  meditate  upon.  When  he  had 
read  the  first  of  these  chapters,  he  returned,  saying  that 
he  understood  it ;  at  the  same  time,  he  applied  it  partly 
to  the  Jews,  and  partly  to  the  Messiah  as  one  of  the  Jews. 
Mr.  Pieritz  set  him  to  read  all  the  three  chapters.  He 
sat  very  thoughtfully  for  a  while ;  then  burst  out  into  the 
exclamation,  “Ilow  to  understand  is  easy  enough,  hut 
how  not  to  understand  is  the  difficulty  /”  From  that  time, 
he  became  really  anxious  about  spiritual  things.  One 
Friday  evening,  talking  of  veracity  toward  God  and  man, 
reference  was  made  to  one  of  the  Talmudical  prayers, 
which  says,  “  I  thank  thee  for  commanding ”  such  and 
such  things,  although  no  command  has  been  given  for 
it  in  the  Bible.  He  felt  the  force  of  this  at  once,  and  on 
going  home,  finding  the  table  spread  to  usher  in  the  Sab- 
batlp  declined  the  service.  His  friends  became  suspicious 
of  him ;  but  his  change  became  public  in  an  unexpected 
way.  A  Mahometan  was  in  the  room  one  day,  to  whom 
Mr.  Pieritz  said,  “  that  the  unbelief  of  the  Jews  was  no 
objection  to  Christianity,  as  many  of  them  did  believe,” 
appealing  to  Joseph,  who  boldly  assented.  The  Maho¬ 
metan  told  this  to  the  Jews,  and  Jerusalem  was  turned 
upside  down.  An  excommunication  was  pronounced 
upon  Joseph,  so  awful  that  the  whole  synagogue  were 
in  tears.  They  then  forced  him  to  divorce  his  wife,  and, 
by  repeated  solicitations,  to  leave  Jerusalem  for  Con¬ 
stantinople,  whither  he  went,  seeking  Christian  baptism. 

On  another  occasion,  a  public  controversy  was  held, 
in  which  Rabbi  Benjamin  was  spokesman  in  favour  of 
the  Talmud.  It  did  not  last  long,  but  three  months  after, 
he  came  to  Mr.  Pieritz  to  say,  that  though  convinced  at 
the  time  that  himself  had  the  best  of  the  argument,  yet, 
on  going  home,  he  had  been  led  to  reflect  and  inquire. 
Another  day,  he  and  Rabbi  Eleazar  came  both  together 
with  a  list  of  questions  written,  but  went  away  without 
proposing  them,  after  hearing  Mr.  Pieritz’s  statement 
of  the  truth.  They  began  to  read  the  New  Testament 
together.  One  evening,  while  thus  engaged  in  one  of 
.heir  houses,  Rabbi  Abraham  came  in  unexpectedly; 


INFORMATION  REGARDING  THE  JEWS. 


245 


they  tried  to  hide  their  books,  but  he  insisted  on  see¬ 
ing  them.  Upon  a  vow  of  secrecy,  they  showed  their 
New  Testaments.  He  whs  very  angry,  but  agreed 
to  go  with  them  to  visit  Mr.  Pieritz.  He  came  full 
of  fire  against  Christianity.  He  began  by  showing  the 
inaccuracy  of  the  quotation  about  Bethlehem-Ephra- 
tah  in  Matt,  ii,  and  said  many  acute  things;  but  Mr. 
Pieritz  kept  to  the  statement  of  the  gospel.  Rabbi  Abra¬ 
ham  soon  became  the  most  earnest  ot  the  three  in  his 
love  for  Christianity,  and  all  determined  to  make  an  open 
profession  *  Two  of  them  belong  to  the  best  Jewish 
families  in  Russia.  Chaii  or  Hyman  Paul,  a  young  man, 
became  convinced  of  the  truth  and  was  baptized.  He 
used  to  go  to  the  convent  and  argue  with  Roman  Catho¬ 
lics,  telling  them  that  they  could  not  be  true  Christians, 
because  they  did  not  care  for  the  Jews,  but  hated  them. 
On  one  occasion  they  ordered  him  out. 

On  the  subject  of  prophecy,  Mr.  Pieritz  agreed  in  the 
sentiments  of  Mr.  Nicolayson  that  it  is  quite  necessary 
for  a  missionary  to  hold  the  literal  interpretation  of  pro¬ 
phecy.  He  mentioned  that  some  Jews  in  Poland  con¬ 
demn  parts  of  Abarbinel  for  spiritualizing.  The  Jews 
feel  their  dispersion  to  be  literal;  and  therefore  if  you 
explain  unfulfilled  prophecy  by  saying  it  is  spiritual,  they 
reckon  you  a  kind  of  infidel.  If  you  say  that  “  a  wolf” 
does  not  mean  a  wolf  but  a  bad  man,  that  “  Zion”  means 
the  church,  and  “  redeeming  Israel”  not  redeeming  Israel 
but  something  else,  and  yet  try  to  convince  them  of  the 
truth  of  Christianity  from  the  Bible,  they  think  that  you 
yourself  do  not  believe  the  Bible.  In  arguing  with  the 
Jews,  it  is  sometimes  of  importance  to  show  the  simi¬ 
larity  between  Rabbinism  and  Popery, f  and  that  they 
have  the  same  author.  One  day  a  Jew  referred  to  the 
follies  transacted  at  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and  said,  “  that 
religion  cannot  be  true.”  The  missionary  replied,  “  They 
do  just  as  you  do  ;  they  add  to  the  New  Testament,  and 
you  add  to  the  Old.”  Like  the  Papists,  the  Jews  do  not 
approve  of  a  man  reading  much  of  the  Bible,  because  it 
leads  him  to  speculate,  and  they  say  the  Rabbinical  com¬ 
mentaries  contain  as  much  as  it  is  proper  to  know.  The 
parts  of  scripture  read  in  the  synagogue,  are  generally 
passages  that  do  not  directly  instruct  in  doctrine.  For 
example,  they  read  the  52d  and  54th  chapters  of  Isaiah, 
but  omit  the  53d. 

*  The  Jewish  Intelligence  for  April  1840,  gives  the  last  accounts  of 
these  three.  All  were  remaining  steadfast  in  their  adherence  to  the 
truth,  but  Abraham  had  gone  to  Constantinople,  and  had  not  returned. 

f  See  Appendix.  No.  VII. 

23 


246  EEYROUT — -INFORMATION  REGARDING  THE  JEWS. 

Ill  speaking  of  the  Holy  Land  as  a  Missionary  field, 
Mr.  Pieritz  gave  us  the  smallest  estimate  we  had  yet 
heard  of  the  numbers  of  the  Jews.  He  reckoned  that  in 
Jerusalem  there  are  only  3000  Jews,  in  Saphet  2000,  in 
Tiberias  1000,  in  Hebron  700,  and  in  other  towns  and 
villages  1300,  making  in  the  whole  land  only  8000  Jews. 
During  the  last  year  he  thought  there  had  been  a  decrease 
in  the  Jewish  population ;  for  the  plague  carried  away 
more  than  those  born  during  the  year,  and  the  Jewish 
emigrants  who  came  to  settle  at  Jerusalem  during  that 
time  were  not  more  than  twenty.  As  to  their  means  of 
support ,  the  Ashkenazim  depend  wholly  on  the  contribu¬ 
tions  from  Europe,  except  in  isolated  cases.  The  Sep¬ 
hardim  are  not  so  entirely  dependent  on  this  source,  as 
they  have  a  little  trade.  If  the  contributions  were  with¬ 
held,  they  would  all  be  forced  to  seek  support  by  their 
own  industry,  and  this  would  be  infinitely  better  for  them. 
Every  intelligent  friend  of  Israel  we  met  agreed  in  this 
opinion.  There  are  no  Rabbis  properly  speaking  among 
the  Ashkenazim,  that  is,  the  Rabbi  is  supported  in  no 
other  way  than  as  a  member  of  the  congregation ;  but 
among  the  Sephardim  there  are  “  Hachamim”  (a'can)  or 
“  Wise,”  for  they  do  not  call  them  Rabbis.  These  are 
all  who  are  raised  above  the  lower  class,  and  have  reach¬ 
ed  a  certain  standard  of  learning.  Above  this  is  the  class 
of  the  “Hacham  Morenu”  (inio  odh)  or  “Teacher.” 
Him  they  regard  with  unqualified  respect,  and  submit  to 
him  as  a  kind  of  Pope.  He  is  well  supported  by  them, 
and  often  lives  in  affluence.  The  Ashkenazim  do  not 
pay  any  such  respect  to  their  Rabbis.  The  Polish  and 
German  Jews  are  generally  better  scholars  than  the  na¬ 
tive  Sephardim;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  latter  have 
more  knowledge  of  the  Bible.  On  the  Barbary  coast,  it 
is  not  uncommon  to  meet  with  very  unlearned  Jews  who 
are  well  acquainted  with  their  Bible.  There  is  a  mixture 
of  the  customs  of  different  countries  among  the  Jews  of 
Palestine ;  but  a  general  inclination  prevails  to  yield  to 
the  manners  and  Taws  of  the  Sephardim;  as,  for  example, 
in  the  rites  of  burial.  There  is  much  more  of  Pharisaism 
among  the  Sephardim  than  among  foreign  Jews,  and 
muchness  morality.  Polygamy  is  not  unfrequent  among 
them,  but  is  not  allowed  among  the  Ashkenazim.  There 
are  several  in  Jerusalem  at  present  who  have  two  wives, 
and  some  who  have  even  four.  Divorce  occurs  every 
day.  Mr.  Pieritz  mentioned  one  case  of  a  Jewess  in  Je¬ 
rusalem,  not  above  thirty  years  old,  who  was  then  mar- 


CHARACTER  OF  JEW'S  IN  PALESTINE — KARAITES.  247 


ried  to  her  fifth  husband.  In  how  affecting  a  manner 
does  this  illustrate  the  question  put  by  the  Pharisee  to 
our  Lord,  “  Is  it  lawful  for  a  man  to  put  away  his  wife 
for  every  cause  1”*  and  the  touching  answer  of  Jesus. 

The  Jews  here  are  far  lower  in  morals  than  those  in 
Europe.  Those  living  in  Saphet  are  worse  than  those 
in  Jerusalem ;  those  in  Hebron  are  the  most  respectable 
of  all.  Their  misery  also  is  very  great.  It  is  not  true, 
as  some  have  supposed,  that  though  the  houses  are  out¬ 
wardly  poor,  they  are  well-furnished  within.  Yet  the 
Jews  are  more  open  and  friendly  in  this  land  than  in  any 
other,  because  of  their  misfortunes.  The  Bible  shews 
that  affliction  will  be  one  way  of  humbling  them  ;  and 
it  is  so  here.  In  other  lands,  where  they  are  involved 
in  business,  or  rich  and  comfortable,  they  will  not  attend 
to  the  missionary. 

The  Jews  here  will  take  an  Old  Testament  willingly, 
but  often  they  will  read  the  historical  parts  only,  and  not 
the  prophets ;  for  it  flatters  their  national  pride  to  read 
the  story  of  the  wars  of  their  fathers.  To  remedy  this, 
the  London  Society  have  published  The  Prophets  sepa¬ 
rately,  and  these  are  often  sold  to  them. 

The  Karaites,!  or  Jews  who  keep  by  the  text  of  the 
word  of  God  and  reject  traditions,  abound  most  in  the 
Crimea,  and  hence  some  erroneously  give  that  country 
the  honour  of  originating  the  name.  They  are  generally 
very  ignorant,  having  no  literature  of  their  own.  In  the 
Crimea  and  Turkey,  they  are  said  to  repeat  their  prayers 
in  Turkish.  Their  prayer-book  is  a  beautiful  compila¬ 
tion,  being  taken  almost  entirely  from  Scripture,  with 
some  hymns :  and  they  do  not  omit  any  book  of  the 
Bible  in  the  Scriptures,  as  some  have  asserted.  The 
other  Jews  hate  this  sect  more  than  they  do  the  Gen¬ 
tiles. 

In  regard  to  the  literary  qualifications  of  missiona¬ 
ries,  the  remarks  of  Mr.  Pieritz  have  been  mostly  an¬ 
ticipated.].  He  shewed  the  necessity  of  a  Missionary’s 
knowing  more  languages  than  Hebrew.  If  he  speak  to 
them  only  in  Hebrew,  he  must  quote  the  Scripture 
simply  as  it  stands  in  the  Hebrew  text,  which  they  often 
understand  in  a  different  sense  from  what  he  does.  For 
the  sake  of  perspicuity,  therefore,  he  must  explain  him- 

*  Matt.  xix.  3. 

+  D-mp  that  is,  textualists,  adhering  to  the  simple  Scripture, 
and  rejecting  traditions.  '  t  See  pages  193, 194. 


248 


BE Y ROUT — MISSIONARY  QUALIFICATIONS. 


self  in  the  vernacular  tongue — Judeo-Polish  or  German 
for  the  Ashkenazim,  and  Judeo-Spanish  or  Arabic  for 
the  Sephardim.  The  study  of  the  Talmud  sharpens  the 
intellect  much ;  so  that  a  Missionary  who  has  not  studied 
it  deeply  ought  to  have  passed  through  an  academica. 
education.  "The  only  way  of  learning  it  is  by  the  help 
of  some  learned  Jew.  The  parts  that  are  not  controver¬ 
sial  are  the  most  easy.  But  one  who  is  a  Talmudist  and 
nothing  more  will  never  do  for  a  Missionary.  One  ad 
vantage  of  Talmudical  knowledge  is,  that  it  enables 
the  person  to  argue  by  Talmudical  logic,  which  is 
much  shorter  and  more  striking  than  scientific  logic. 
Jews  cannot  follow  a  long  argument.  They  do  not  feel 
the  power  of  the  syllogism;  and,  on  this  account,  “  Les¬ 
lie’s  Method”  does  not  suit  them. 

The  concluding  words  of  our  conversation  with 
this  interesting  person  were  worthy  of  remembrance. 
“  Rather  send  "one  good  Missionary  than  fifty  others.  I 
have  come  after  many  Missionaries,  and  have  wished 
that  they  had  never  been  there.  It  was  pleasant  to  come 
after  Wolff.  All  the  Jews  in  the  place  knew  what  he 
wanted  with  them — viz.  that  without  Christ  there  is  no 
remission  of  sin.” 

(July  5.)  In  the  streets  of  Beyrout,  it  is  common  to 
meet  Druse  women  wearing  the  tantour  or  “  horn  ”  of 
silver,  with  the  white 
veil  thrown  over  it.  It 
is  far  from  being  a 
graceful  ornament,  and 
is  adopted  only  by  the 
women  of  Lebanon.  _  It 
is  likely  that  this  fashion 
was  borrowed  origin¬ 
ally  from  the  language 
of  Scripture,  and  not 
that  Scripture  refers  to 
a  fashion  which  existed 
long  before.  Probably 
the  truth  in  regard  to 
this  custom,  is  the  same 
as  in  regard  to  .several 
practices  in  usft  among 
the  Abyssinians;  they 
have  grafted  customs 
on  a  literal  application 
of  Scripture  expres- 


FUTURE  MOVEMENTS. 


249 


sions.  Such  passages  as  “  I  have  defiled  my  horn  in  the 
dust,”*  may  have  suggested  this  singular  head-dress  to 
the  people  of  Lebanon.  The  horn  to  which  the  words 
of  Scripture  refer,  was  simply,  as  among  the  Greeks,  the 
horn  of  animals, — that  being  their  principal  weapon  of 
defence,  and  therefore  the  natural  symbol  of  power. 

We  met  a  man  carrying  a  wooden  key  hanging  over 
his  breast,  and  an  iron  key  over  his  shoulder  hanging 
down  his  back ;  and  we  found  that  it  is  common  for  mer¬ 
chants,  when  they  carry  more  than  one  key,  to  suspend 
them  in  this  way  over  the  shoulder.  It  was  once  the 
custom  in  Judah ;  “  The  key  of  the  house  of  David  will 
I  lay  upon  his  shoulder.”!  Every  body  also  seems  to 
carry  in  his  hand  a  string  of  beads,  keeping  his  fingers 
in  constant  employment.  Christians,  Jews,  and  Maho¬ 
metans  seem  equally  wedded  to  the  practice. 

We  had  been  deliberating  for  some  time  as  to  our  fu¬ 
ture  movements  in  the  important  Mission  with  which  we 
had  been  entrusted ;  and  now,  after  much  anxious  and 
prayerful  deliberation,  came  to  a  unanimous  conclusion. 
Our  valuable  fellow-traveller,  Dr.  Black,  had  for  some 
time  felt  the  climate  of  Syria,  and  the  rude  manner  of 
travelling,  too  much  for  his  bodily  strength,  and  feared 
that  hie  would  not  be  able  to  undergo  the  further  fatigue 
of  a  journey  into  Galilee.  In  these  circumstances,  it  was 
considered  right  that  he  and  Dr.  Keith  should  proceed 
homewards  by  Constantinople  and  the  Danube,  making 
inquiries  into  the  condition  of  the  Jews  in  all  the  most 
important  places  through  which  that  route  would  take 
them ;  whilst  the  two  younger  members  of  the  Deputa¬ 
tion  should  remain  to  visit  the  Jews  of  Galilee,  and  re¬ 
turn  to  England  by  a  land  journey  through  Europe.  To 
aid  us  in  our  inquiries,  Mr.  Caiman,  a  Christian  Israelite, 
of  whom  we  have  already  spoken,  a  man  of  tried  integ¬ 
rity,  who  had  formerly  laboured  five  years  in  Palestine, 
and  was  master  of  the  Arabic  and  German  languages, 
was  engaged  to  accompany  us. 

On  Saturday  afternoon  (July  6),  we  were  present  at 
the  Arabic  service  in  the  house  of  Mr.  Hebard,  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Missionary.  About  twenty  Syrian  converts  were 
present,  and  among  the  rest  a  venerable  old  man,  named 
Karabet,  who  had  been  twenty  years  Armenian  Bishop 
in  Jerusalem,  but  had  now  renounced  the  errors  of  that 


♦Job  xvi.  15. 


23* 


t  Isa.  xxii.  22. 


250 


BEYROUT — SABBATH  SERVICES. 


church  at  the  cost  of  sacrificing  all  his  worldly  interests. 

A  prayer  meeting  was  conducted  in  English,  and  then 
an  address  and  prayer  in  Arabic  followed.  In  the  even¬ 
ing,  the  heights  of  Lebanon  were  here  and  there  blazing 
with  fires  kindled  by  the  Maronites  in  honour  of  the 

feast  of  St.  John.  .  . 

(July  7.  Sabbath.)  Early  this  morning  the  missiona¬ 
ries  came  to  take  us  to  the  house  of  the  American  Con¬ 
sul,  where  their  forenoon  service  is  conducted.  Here,  in 
a  large  commodious  room  with  stone  floor,  the  open 
windows  of  which  commanded  a  splendid  view  of  the 
sea,  the  old  castle,  and  Lebanon,  was  assembled  a  con¬ 
gregation  of  more  than  100,  consisting  of  English  resi¬ 
dents  and  their  families,  and  many  turbaned  Syrians 
who  understood  English.  The  singing  of  the  hymns  was 
very  sweet  in  a  foreign  land.  Dr.  Black  preached  from 
Rom.  v.  1.  At  three  o’clock,  we  parted  with  our  esteem¬ 
ed  fellow-travellers,  and  saw  them  set  sail  in  the  Austrian 
steamer  for  Smyrna.  It  was  solemn  and  painful  to  sepa¬ 
rate  from  our  brethren,  “  not  knowing  the  things  that 
were  to  befall  us.” 

We  now  went  to  the  mission-house  above  the  town ; 
and  round  the  door  found  several  of  the  Syrian  boys 
waiting  for  the  commencement  of  the  Arabic  service. 
Sitting  down  under  the  shade  of  the  mulberry-trees,  we 
conversed  with  them.  Two  of  them  spoke  English  re¬ 
markably  well,  and  went  over  the  Old  Testament  history 
most  accurately,  as  far  as  the  wanderings  of  Israel,  ac¬ 
companying  every  answer  with  most  expressive  looks 
and  actions.  One  of  them  especially  was  full  of  liveli¬ 
ness,  and  on  asking  him  the  story  of  Moses  wishing  to 
see  Lebanon,  related  it  fully,  pointing  to  the  lofty  moun¬ 
tain  towering  before  us.  Three  others  sitting  by  occa¬ 
sionally  added  a  remark,  while  old  Bishop  Karabet,  and 
many  others,  looked  on  from  the  steps  above.  Soon 
after,  the  Arabic  service  commenced  in  a  large  airy 
room,  divided  by  a  partition,  except  at  the  place  where 
the  Missionary  stood.  The  women  sat  on  the  one 
side  of  the  partition,  the  men  on  the  other,  according 
to  the  custom  of  the  Christian  churches  of  this  coun¬ 
try,  the  preacher  standing  within  sight  of  both  parts 
of  the  congregation.  Mr.  Thomson  preached  in  deeply- 
toned  Arabic,  to  an  attentive  audience  of  about  one  hun¬ 
dred  and  thirty,  gathered  out  of  many  different  coun¬ 
tries.  There  were  two  Armenian  bishops,  with  clean 
venerable  beards,  Karabet,  and  Jacob  Aga;  there  were 


lord’s  supper. 


25. 


Greeks  and  Greek-Catholics,  an  Abyssinian  Christian,  and 
a  Druse,  converted  Jews,  American  Presbyterians  and 
Congregationalists,  and  Ministers  of  the  Church  of  Scot¬ 
land— all  different  in  name,  and  yet,  we  trust,  one  in 
Christ.  This  service  closed,  and  we  removed  to  a  more 
convenient  upper  chamber,  to  partake  of  the  Lord’s  Sup¬ 
per.  The  American  manner  of  administering  this  sacra¬ 
ment  differs  little  from  ours,  except  that  they  give  thanks 
a  second  time  before  giving  the  cup,  in  close  imitation 
of  our  Lord.  One  of  us  sat  between  two  believing  Jews, 
the  other  between  the  two  Armenian  Bishops.  Many 
of  the  others  also  participated,  so  that  it  was  an  emblem 
of  the  meeting  of  the  great  multitude  gathered  from  na¬ 
tions  and  kindreds  at  our  Father’s  table  above.  This 
was  a  well  of  living  water  at  which  we  were  strength¬ 
ened  for  our  coming  journey,  and  refreshed  after  the  de¬ 
parture  of  our  elder  brethren.  When  they  were  gone, 
we  felt  as  if  we  were  beginning  our  journey  anew  in  cir¬ 
cumstances  of  more  responsibility  than  before.  But  we 
hoped  for  Asher’s  blessing,  “As  thy  days  so  shall  thy 
strength  be.” 


Note  to  page  212. 

*  It  is  a  somewhat  curious  occurrence,  that  the  remnants  of  this 
Bible  were  found  and  drawn  up  from  the  bottom  of  the  well,  in  July 
1843,  by  Dr.  Wilson  and  his  fellow  traveller,  who  employed  a  Sama¬ 
ritan  from  Sychar  to  descend  and  examine  the  well.  (See  Memoir  of 
M'Cheyne,  published  by  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication.) 


.252 


CHAPTER  V. 


SYROPHENICIA — GALILEE. 


“  Thy  land,  O  Immanuel.” — Isa.  viii.  8. 


In  the  afternoon  of  Monday  (July  8)  we  set  out  for  Galilee, 
with  a  small  cavalcade  of  six  horses.  Ibraim  and  Ahmet 
took  leave  of  us.  The  latter  felt  little,  but  Ibraim  ex¬ 
hibited  very  affectionate  feelings.  He  followed  us  a  little 
way  beyond  the  gates,  then  took  farewell,  burst  into  tears, 
and  rushed  out  of  sight.  We  felt  it  very  sad  to  leave  this 
Arab  for  ever,  not  knowing  how  it  is  with  his  soul. 

Our  road  lay  nearly  south  through  a  grove  of  pines, 
with  mulberry  gardens  on  all  sides.  Pleasant  wild 
flowers  adorned  our  path ;  the  oleander  in  full  bloom 
skirted  the  banks  of  two  small  streams  which  we  crossed ; 
and  often  also  our  own  modest  white  rose  appeared 
amongst  the  fragrant  myrtles  in  the  hedges.  We  crossed 
a  bar  of  sand  which  is  here  blown  across  the  promontory 
of  Beyrout,  and  is  two  hours  in  breadth.  The  muleteers 
said  that  this  sand  was  blown  all  the  way  from  Egypt, 
but  we  heard  that  the  shore  is  composed  of  a  very  soft 
sandstone  which  accounts  for  its  origin.  Between  us 
and  Lebanon  lay  a  splendid  olive-grove,  stretching  north 
and  south,  said  to  be  the  largest  in  Palestine,  which  it 
was  refreshing  to  the  eye  even  to  look  upon.  But  Leba¬ 
non  itself  chiefly  attracted  our  admiration,  for  every 
part  of  its  lower  ridge  seemed  covered  with  villages. 
From  a  single  point  we  counted  twenty-one  villages,  all 
appearing  at  once  on  the  brow  of  the  mountain,  each 
village  having  considerable  cultivation  round  it.  In  the 
days  when  these  stupendous  heights  were  crowned  with 
forests  of  pine  and  cedar,  how  deeply  expressive  must 
have  been  the  words  of  the  prophet,  “  Lebanon  is  not 
sufficient  to  burn,  nor  the  beasts  thereof  sufficient  for  a 
burnt-offering.”  * 

We  reached  the  southern  side  of  the  promontory  be¬ 
fore  sunset,  and  came  upon  the  rocky  sea- shore,  along 

*  Isa.  xl.  16, 


LEBANON — NABY-YOUNES. 


253 


which  our  course  now  lay.  Just  as  the  sun  went  down, 
we  passed  a  small  khan, — a  busy  scene.  Some  were 
unloading  their  asses,  some  spreading  their  mats  for  the 
night.  One  man  was  opening  his  sack  to  give  his  ass 
provender,  and  forcibly  reminded  us  of  Jacob’s  sons  ar¬ 
rived  at  their  inn.*  They  invited  us  to  stay  with  them, 
saying,  “  You  will  be  plundered  if  you  go  on.”  We  had 
not  gone  far  when  darkness  overtook  us,  and  we  lost 
our  way  just  as  we  came  upon  the  bank  of  a  broad 
stream  that  comes  down  from  Lebanon,  called  Damour, 
the  ancient  Tcimyras.  Here  we  wandered  among  mul¬ 
berry  gardens  till  at  length  we  found  a  ford  near  the 
ruins  of  a  bridge.  The  roots  of  the  mountains  here 
stretch  out  into  the  sea,  forming  rocky  promontories. 
We  crossed  over  one  and  another  of  these  by  what  ap¬ 
peared  to  be  a  pave  or  ancient  Roman  road,  and  came 
down  through  a  village  to  a  khan  on  the  sea-shore,  called 
Naby-Younes,  “  the  prophet  Jonah.”  There  is  here  a 
small  bay,  which  a  Mahometan  tradition  makes  out  to  be 
the  spot  where  Jonah  was  cast  ashore  by  the  whale.  The 
keeper  of  the  khan  offered  us  accommodation,  but,  after 
taking  a  little  of  his  salt  bread  and  leban ,  we  judged  it 
preferable  to  encamp  on  the  open  shore  near  the  sea. 

The  servants  who  now  formed  our  party  were  all  of 
different  persuasions.  Botros,  Mr.  Caiman’s  attendant 
was  a  Greek  Catholic ;  Antonio,  who  waited  upon  us, 
was  a  young  Syrian  of  the  Latin  Church,  and  spoke 
Italian.  The  muleteers  were,  Mansor,  a  Druse,  and 
Tanoos,  a  Maronite  lad,  of  a  most  gentle  disposition. 
Sometimes  at  night  Antonio  and  Botros  “  poured  water 
on  our  hands  ”  to  wash  away  the  dust,  reminding  us  of 
2  Kings  iii.  11.  With  these  around  us,  and  the  waves 
of  the  Mediterranean  almost  at  our  tent-door,  we  slept 
in  peace. 

Early  next  morning  an  old  decrepit  Moslem,  with  head 
white  as  snow,  calling  himself  the  Dervish  of  Naby- 
Younes,  came  to  the  tent-door  asking  alms.  He  was 
very  grateful  for  a  very  small  coin.  We  left  this  bay  at 
six  o’clock,  and  gaining  the  height  of  the  next  rocky 
promontory,  obtained  a  view  of  the  coast,  indented  with 
deep  sandy  bays,  and  of  Sidon  itself  two  hours  distant. 
The  view  of  Sidon  as  we  approached  was  very  fine,  and 
exceedingly  like  the  representations  commonly  given  of 
it  in  the  sketches  of  Syria.  The  town  stands  upon  a 
high  rising  ground,  which  projects  a  considerable  way 

*  Gen.  xlii.  27 


254  SIDON— -COSTUME  OF  MOSLEM  LADIES. 

into  the  sea.  It  is  enclosed  by  a  high  fortified  wall  on 
the  eastern  side,  and  two  mosques  tower  over  the  other 
buildings  of  the  town.  The  most  striking  object  is  a 
fortress  built  upon  a  rock  in  the  harbour,  and  connected 
with  the  town  by  a  bridge  of  nine  arches,  said  to  be  a 
remnant  of  the  times  of  the  Crusades.  There  is  also  a 
ledge  of  low  rocks  in  the  offing,  near  which  two  small 
vessels  lay  at  anchor.  Between  the  town  and  the  moun¬ 
tains  lie  richly  cultivated  gardens  with  tall  verdant  trees. 
Behind  these  the  mountains  appear,  and  we  counted  five 
distinct  ridges  of  the  range  of  Lebanon,  rising  one  above 
another.  Altogether,  “  Great  Sidon,”  though  fallen  from 
her  ancient  glory,  occupies  a  noble  situation.  Into  the 
bay  to  the  north  of  it  flows  a  considerable  stream,  ano¬ 
ther  of  the  many  which  are  fed  by  the  snows  of  Lebanon. 
After  fording  it,  a  lively  scene 
met  our  view.  The  country 
people  were  bringing  their 
cusas  and  melons  to  market 
upon  donkeys.  One  woman 
wore  handsome  silver  ank¬ 
lets,  similar  to  those  spoken 
of  by  Isaiah.*  The  Moslem 
ladies  all  in  white,  the  face 
entirely  muffled  in  a  dark 
coloured  veil,  the  feet  en¬ 
closed  in  large  yellow  boots, 
were  taking  their  morning 
walk  toward  the  tombs. 

Many  remains  of  ancient 
pavement  occasionally  oc-  silver  anklets. 

curred.  Mr.  M‘Cheyne  rode  on  before  the  rest,  and  ar¬ 
riving  at  the  gate,  inquired  of  the  sentinel  the  way  to  the 
Jewish  synagogue.  He  pointed  to  a  Jew  who  was 
standing  beside  his  shop-door  at  the  entrance  of  the  ba¬ 
zaar.  The  Jew,  shutting  up  his  shop,  took  the  stranger 
kindly  by  the  hand,  and  led  him  away  to  his  house.  He 
tied  up  the  horse  in  the  court-yard,  took  off  the  carpet 
and  bridle,  and  ushered  him  into  his  best  room,  where 
both  sat  down  on  the  divan.  After  some  preliminary 
questions,  the  Hebrew  Bible  was  produced,  and  the  first 
part  of  Ezekiel  xxxvii.  read,  from  which  Mr.  M.  shewed 
him  his  state  by  nature.  He  seemed  a  little  offended,  yet 
not  wishing  to  shew  it  in  his  own  house,  tried  to  change 


Isa.  iii.  18. 


SYNAGOGUE— INTERVIEW  WITH  JEWS. 


255 


the  subject  of  discourse,  and  offered  coffee.  On  leaving 
the  house,  another  Jew  led  Mr.  M.  to  the  synagogue,  a 
substantial  building  having  the  roof  vaulted  in  the  Gothic 
style.  An  old  man  sat  on  the  ground  surrounded  by 
some  Jewish  children,  whom  he  was  teaching  to  read 
portions  of  Hebrew.  Here  the  rest  of  our  company  met, 
and  the  old  Rabbi,  whose  house  joined  hard  to  the  syna¬ 
gogue,  came  in,  and  was  followed  by  some  twenty  or 
thirty  Jews.  Several  of  them  recognised  Mr.  Caiman, 
and  received  him  in  a  very  friendly  manner.  They 
seemed  well  inclined  to  enter  into  controversy  on  divine 
things.  Two  lads  maintained  an  animated  conversation 
with  Mr.  Bonar,  during  which  he  produced  his  Hebrew 
New  Testament,  and  asked  one  of  them  to  read  a  chap¬ 
ter.  They  began  very  readily  to  read  Matt,  ii,  but  when 
nearly  finishing  it,  an  elder  Jew  looked  over  their  shoul¬ 
der,  and  whispered  to  them  the  name  of  the  book  which 
they  were  reading.  They  immediately  closed  the  book, 
and  one  of  them  started  from  his  seat.  We  told  the 
Rabbi  that  we  had  come  from  a  far  country  to  visit  Is¬ 
rael  ;  that  we  had  seen  God’s  word  fulfilled  in  the  deso¬ 
lations  of  Jerusalem ;  and  we  asked  for  what  cause  Israel 
were  now  like  the  dry  bones  in  the  open  valley  I  The  old 
Rabbi  appeared  to  be  a  man  of  perverse  spirit.  He  went 
to  his  house,  and  brought  out  a  Hebrew  New  Testament, 
one  of  those  printed  by  the  London  Society,  a  good  deal 
worn.  He  turned  up  to  Mark  xiii.  32,  where  Jesus  says 
that  he  did  not  know  the  day  of  his  second  coming,  and 
asked  how  then  could  he  be  God?  One  bitter  Jew^made 
signs  to  have  us  thrust  out  of  the  synagogue ;  but  the  rest 
showed  greater  kindness,  especially  one  young  Rabbi 
from  the  coast  of  Barbary,  who  spoke  a  little  French.  He 
showed  us  their  manuscripts  of  the  law,  one  of  which  he 
said  was  three  hundred  years  old,  written  at  Bagdad,  and 
now  much  worn.  It  had  cost  them  200  dollars.  This 
man  afterwards  received  us  politely  into  his  house,  en¬ 
tertained  us  with  lemonade  and  coffee,  and  at  parting 
accepted  a  Hebrew  tract  called  “  The  City  of  Refuge.’7 
He  told  us  that  there  are  300  Jews  in  Sidon. 

VV  e  now  proceeded  through  the  bazaar  to  a  handsome 
khan  or  caravansera  possessed  in  former  days  by  the 
Franks.  It  is  a  large  square,  built  round  on  all  sides,  with  a 
fine  fountain  and  pool  of  water  in  the  centre,  over  which  a 
vine  was  trained;  a  few  orange-trees  grew  around. 
While  sitting  by  the  pool  waiting  till  one  of  our  mules 
was  shod,  a  string  of  camels  arrived,  heavily  laden  with 


256 


SIDON — PROPHECY. 


furniture,  which  proved  to  be  the  property  of  the  late 
Lady  Hester  Stanhope,  which,  we  were  told,  was  to  be 
sold  at  Sidon.  Here  also  two  Druse  women  were  sit¬ 
ting  wearing  the  tantour ,  or  horn  upon  the  forehead. 
On  the  finger  they  wore  a  massy  ring,  having  a  seal  on 
it.  This  we  had  noticed  frequently  in  Egypt.*  In  the 
streets  we  met  several  Greek  ecclesiastics  neatly  attired. 
The  town  is  solidly  built,  and  the  bazaars  are  in  a  thriv¬ 
ing  condition.  A  public  bath  is  one  of  the  few  modern 
buildings;  but  frequently  we  stumbled  upon  broken 
pillars  and  fragments  of  carved  stones,  the  memorials  of 
departed  greatness. 

All  the  magnificence  of  Sidon  is  gone,  for  “  God  has 
executed  judgments  in  her.”  f  Again  and  again  have 
its  inhabitants  been  “judged  in  the  midst  of  her  by  the 
sword  on  every  side.”  There  are  no  more  any  mer¬ 
chants  worth  mentioning  here.  In  two  or  three  shops, 
fishing-rods  were  exposed  for  sale,  but  there  are  no  signs 
of  trade.  “Be  thou  ashamed,  O  Zidon;  for  the  sea  hath 
spoken,  even  the  strength  of  the  sea,  saying,  I  travail  not 
nor  bring  forth  children,  neither  do  I  nourish  up  young 
men,  nor  bring  up  virgins.”  \  The  city,  and  the  sea  that 
laved  its  walls,  now  lament  the  want  of  its  once  crowded 
and  stirring  population.  It  no  more  can  boast  of  a  king. 
“  All  the  kings  of  Zidon”  have  been  made  to  drink  the 
wine-cup  of  God’s  fury,  even  as  it  was  foretold.  § 

Before  leaving  the  town,  a  Greek  Christian,  who  acts 
as  a  consular  agent,  came  to  us,  and  advised  us  not  to 
proceed,  for  a  traveller  had  been  killed  by  the  Arabs  the 
day  before,  three  hours  on  the  way  to  Tyre.  We  had  no 
reason  to  suspect  this  person’s  veracity,  and  yet  we  hoped 
that  his  information  might  be  untrue ;  and  committing 
ourselves  to  God,  left  the  gate  of  Sidon  an  hour  after  noon. 

The  gardens  and  groves  that  shelter  the  east  side  of 
the  town,  afforded  a  pleasant  shade.  Among  some  of 
these  Abdolonimus  may  have  been  found  by  Alexander 
the  Great  ;||  and  there  the  rich  merchants  of  Sidon  enjoy¬ 
ed  their  wealth,  and  revelled  in  that  luxury  and  ungodli¬ 
ness  which  made  the  Saviour  fix  on  them  as  eminent  in¬ 
stances  of  guilt,  “  It  shall  be  more  tolerable  for  Tyre  and 
Sidon  at  the  day  of  judgment  than  for  you.”  IT  Our  way 
lay  directly  south,  through  the  fine  plain  which  stretches 

*  Gen.  xli.  42.  Luke  xv.  22.  +  Ezek.  xxviii.  22. 

t  Isa.  xxiii.  4.  §  Jer.  xxv.  22. 

II  Justin,  lib.  x.  cap.  10  ;  and  Quin.  Curtius,  lib.  iv.  cap.  1,  $  19 
IT  Matt.  xi.  22 


SAREPTA. 


2  57 


pey ond  Tyre.  Some  parts  of  it  were  cultivated,  yield¬ 
ing  barley,  dhura,  and  tobacco,  but  the  greater  part  was 
lying  waste,  covered  with  thistles  and  tangling  briers. 
It  is  skirted  on  the  east  by  a  low  range  of  hills  connected 
with  Lebanon,  and  these  frequently  open  and  show  plea¬ 
sant  little  valleys,  with  villages  and  olive-trees  on  the 
heights. 

In  three  hours  we  came  upon  many  fragments  of 
marble  pillars  scattered  on  the  shore.  These  and  other 
similar  remains  appear  to  be  the  remnants  of  ancient 
villas,  if  not  of  some  town.  In  the  days  when  Tyre  and 
Sidon  enjoyed  their  greatest  splendour,  this  midway  sit¬ 
uation  would  be  most  favourable  for  the  country-seats 
of  the  princes  and  merchants.  Here,  far  removed  from 
the  noise  of  the  city,  they  might  be  refreshed  by  the  sea- 
breeze  tempering  the  heat  of  summer,  while,  from  the 
neighbouring  heights,  they  enjoyed  the  view  of  their 
stately  vessels  sailing  past. 

At  this  midway  point  stands  Sarfend,  the  ancient 
Zareyrfiath  or  Sarepta.  It  formerly  spread  toward  the 
shore,  but  now  is  on  the  heights.  The  hills  are  here 
about  a  mile  from  the  shore,  and  the  village  is  pleasantly 
situated  upon  the  steep  brow  of  one  of  them,  overhang¬ 
ing  a  ravine  filled  with  fine  olive-trees,  and  commanding 
a  wide  view.  The  vine  once  grew  upon  its  hills  in  great 
luxuriance,  and  is  celebrated  by  a  Latin  poet, 

“  Quaeque  Sareptano  palmite  missa  bibas * 

(“Wines  which  the  vineyards  of  Sarepta  yield.”) 

But  it  was  matter  of  far  greater  interest  to  us,  that  it 
was  hither  that  Elijah  came  from  the  brook  Cherith,  and 
here  he  was  nourished  out  of  the  widow’s  barrel  of  meal 
and  cruise  of  oil,  and  here  he  raised  her  child  from  the 
dead  by  prayer.  These  simple  facts  invest  the  place 
with  a  sacred  interest.  It  was  the  theatre  where  God 
displayed  his  amazing  sovereignty.  The  Lord  passes  by 
the  many  widows  that  were  in  Israel — he  passes  by  all 
the  princes  of  Tyre  and  Sidon,  and  fixes  on  one  who 
dwells  unknown  in  Sarepta,  “  a  woman  that  was  a  wi¬ 
dow  teaching  the  world  that  he  chooses  his  vessels  of 
mercy  where  and  when  it  seems  good  in  his  sight.  Eli¬ 
jah  may  often  have  walked  along  these  shores,  and  it 
was  pleasant  even  to  imagine  that  we  were  treading  in 
his  footsteps.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  this  fertile 
plain,  which  may  well  be  called  “  the  borders  of  Tyre 
and  Sidon,”  was  also  the  scene  of  one  of  the  most  affect- 

*  Sidon.  Apoll.  17,  51. 

24 


258 


SIDON  TO  TYRE— RUINED  KHAN. 


in g  of  the  gospel  narratives,  showing  the  same  sover¬ 
eignty  and  grace  as  the  wonders  of  Sarepta.  For  it  was 
toward  this  plain  that  Jesus  directed  his  steps  from  the 
Sea  of  Galilee,  when  the  woman  of  Syrophenicia  came 
and  fell  at  his  feet.* 

More  than  an  hour  to  the  south  of  Sarfend,  we  diverged 
from  the  shore  to  visit  the  caves  and  tombs  which  occur 
in  the  precipitous  face  of  the  low  hills.  We  climbed,  up 
into  one  large  cavern,  apparently  natural,  about  sixty 
feet  deep  by  thirty  broad,  and  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet 
in  height.  From  the  mouth  of  the  cave  we  could  count 
about  twenty  sepulchres  cut  in  the  face  of  the  rock,  pro¬ 
bably  part  of  the  ancient  works  of  Tyre,  the  tombs  of 
her  rich  men  and  princes. 

Two  hours  further  south,  we  arrived  at  the  largest 
stream  we  had  yet  seen  in  the  land.  The  banks  were 
skirted  with  the  red  blossoming  oleander,  ana  many  tor¬ 
toises  were  creeping  in  the  shallows.  This  is  the  Kasi- 
mieh,  believed  to  be  the  ancient  Leontes ,  which  has  its 
source  from  Baalbec,  flows  through  the  splendid  Vale  of 
Coele-Syria,  and  empties  itself  into  the  sea,  an  hour  and 
a  half  north  of  Tyre. 

We  crossed  the  stream  by  a  substantial  bridge,  upon 
the  side  of  which  we  found  sitting  a  cluster  of  Bedouins, 
wild,  suspicious-looking  men,  with  a  little  yellow  shawl 
over  the  head,  encircled  by  a  rope  of  camel’s  hair.  They 
seemed  to  be  looking  out  for  a  prey,  and  our  servants 
evidently  did  not  like  their  appearance,  but  we  saluted 
them  peaceably  and  passed  on.  On  the  high  bank  over¬ 
looking  the  river  stands  an  old  dilapidated  khan;  and 
here,  as  the  sun  was  going  down,  we  resolved  to  encamp 
for  the  night.  Perhaps  the  story  we  had  heard  at  Sidon 
of  the  danger  of  the  way  made  us  think  more  of  “  perils 
of  robbers,”  than  we  should  otherwise  have  done ;  nor 
was  it  any  addition  to  our  prospects  of  a  peaceful  night’s 
rest,  to  be  told  that  the  ground  here  was  full  of  scorpi¬ 
ons,  and  that  even  the  floor  of  the  old  khan  was  not  free 
from  them.  However,  we  decided  to  go  up  to  the  khan, 
and  seek  shelter  within  its  walls.  Here,  as  the  brief 
twilight  came  on,  there  arrived  first  one  company  and 
then  another  of  mules,  with  tingling  bells,  till  the  square 
of  the  building  presented  quite  a  lively  appearance.  We 
pitched  our  tent  on  the  roof  of  the  old  ruin,  where  the 
grass  had  been  allowed  to  grow ;  and  committing  our¬ 
selves  to  Him  that  keeps  Israel,  lay  down  to  sleep  in 

*  Matt.  xv.  21 — 28.  Mark  vii.  24 — 30 


TYRE. 


259 


peace.  Occasionally  we  heard  the  cry  of  the  jackal,  but 
nothing  else  disturbed  our  rest  till  the  rising  sun  shone 
with  intense  brilliancy  into  our  tent. 

(July  10.)  We  were  soon  on  our  way  to  Tyre,  an  hour 
and  a  half  distant,  through  a  fine  plain,  covered  mostly 
with  thorns,  with  here  and  there  a  field  of  dhura.  Tyre 
appears  a  long  promontory  stretching  into  the  sea.  Half¬ 
way  between  the  town  and  the  hills,  there  is  a  conical 
rising  ground  surmounted  either  by  a  khan  or  a  tomb,  and 
nearer  Tyre  appear  the  remains  of  the  ancient  aqueduct. 

Arriving  at  the  gate,  we  were  detained  some  time  under 
the  shade  of  some  fig-trees,  till  the  Governor  had  fully 
ascertained  that  we  came  from  the  north,  and  not  from 
places  where  the  plague  prevailed.  We  entered,  and  with 
some  difficulty  rode  through  the  bazaar,  which  was 
shaded  with  mats  and  vines,  till  we  arrived  at  the  khan, 
a  large  half-ruined  building,  where  we  put  up  our  horses. 

Tyre  is  but  the  wreck  of  a  town.  You  cannot  tra¬ 
verse  its  streets  without  meeting  at  every  turn  fragments 
of  other  days.  Thus,  at  the  gate  there  are  two  fallen 
pillars ;  in  the  bazaar,  another  prostrate  pillar  helps  to 
complete  the  pavement ;  and  on  the  shore  of  the  penin¬ 
sula  (once  the  island),  broken  columns  lie  on  all  sides, 
over  which  the  sea  dashes  its  waves.  We  stood  awhile 
amidst  the  ruins  of  the  old  Christian  church,  at  the  south¬ 
east  corner  of  the  town,  where  Eusebius  is  said  to  have 
preached,  and  looking  over,  observed  the  waves  break 
on  two  large  columns  with  their  capitals  that  lay  close 
under  the  wall. 

From  this  point,  and  from  the  summit  of  a  tower  to 
which  the  Jews  led  us  to  the  south-west  corner  of  the 
town,  we  surveyed  the  whole  extent  of  what  was  Insular 
Tyre,  once  densely  covered  with  the  palaces  of  Tyrian 
merchants  *  The  island  appears  to  have  been  of  the 
shape  of  a  prolonged  diamond,  stretching  nearly  a  mile 
from  north  to  south.  The  breadth  it  is  not  easy  to  esti¬ 
mate,  as  we  cannot  tell  where  Alexander’s  causeway 
commenced.  We  observed  a  chain  of  low  rocks  in  the 
offing,  all  a  little  under  water,  which  may  very  possibly 


*  A  recent  traveller,  Mr.  W.  R.  Wylde,  found  in  some  of  the  rocks 
holes  exactly  fit  for  pots,  in  some  of  which  were  pieces  of  shells,  with 
the  debris  of  other  shells  lying  round.  These  shells  all  belonged  to  ihe 
species  Murex  trunculus ,  from  which  the  purple  dye  used  to  be  extract¬ 
ed.  Hence  he  concludes,  that  these  holes  were  anciently  the  vats  used 
for  preparing  the  Tyrian  dye.  We  found  specimens  of  the  shells  he 
speaks  of  on  the  shore  under  Mount  Carmel. 


260 


TYRE — PROPHECY. 


have  been  built  upon  in  former  days.  The  modern  town 
or  village  is  thinly  scattered  over  the  eastern  part  of  what 
was  formerly  the  island ;  the  part  next  the  sea  is  culti¬ 
vated,  and  bears  good  tobacco.  The  little  harbour  of 
Tyre  lies  on  the  north  side  of  the  peninsula,  and  is  nearly 
enclosed  by  a  wall,  the  ruins  of  which  are  standing  here 
and  there.  It  would  not  now  vie  with  the  harbours  of 
any  of  our  fishing  villages ;  we  counted  some  ten  open¬ 
decked  fishing-boats  riding  in  it ;  but  larger  vessels  can¬ 
not  enter.  The  island  was  originally  nearly  half  a  mile 
distant  from  the  shore ;  but  across  the  intervening  gulf 
Alexander  with  amazing  labour  formed  his  famous  cause¬ 
way,  using  for  that  purpose  the  stones  and  the  very  dust 
of  ancient  Tyre,  scraped  from  oif  her.  During  the  lapse 
of  ages,  the  sea  has  washed  up  the  sand  on  each  side 
of  this  causeway,  so  that  it  is  now  a  broad  neck  of  land, 
with  fine  sandy  bays  on  each  side.  Ruins  of  ancient 
walls  and  foundations  are  still  to  be  found  in  different 
parts  of  it.  The  houses,  or  rather  cottages  of  Tyre,  are 
built  of  good  stone,  with  many  palm-trees,  vines,  figs,  and 
pomegranates  interspersed,  giving  the  place  a  cool  and 
pleasing  aspect.  The  modern  name  is  Sour,  and  there 
are  about  1500  inhabitants.  There  is  some  probability 
that  the  sea  has  advanced  upon  this  coast,  and  materially 
affected  the  size  of  the  ancient  island  ;  and  if  this  be  the 
case,  we  can  have  no  difficulty  in  understanding  how 
the  almost  impregnable  fortifications,  of  which  history 
speaks,  and  the  palaces  of  the  Tyrian  merchants,  were 
once  crowded  together  upon  this  interesting  spot.* 

In  order  to  understand  fully  the  accomplishment  of  the 
divine  predictions  against  Tyre,  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind,  that  though  the  island  may  have  been  very  soon 
occupied  as  a  stronghold,  yet  the  most  ancient  city,  called 
by  historians  Palse  Tyrus,  or  Old  Tyre,  was  situated  on 
the  mainland,  at  a  distance  of  nearly  four  miles  south 
from  the  island.  This  was  “  the  strong  city  Tyre”  m 
mentioned  in  the  days  of  Joshua, f  and  the  “stronghold 
of  Tyre”  in  the  time  of  David. |  As  many  travellers  have 

*  Mr.  Wylde  gives  many  interesting  proofs  of  the  advance  of  the  sea 
all  along  the  coast.  For  example,  the  old  castle  at  Beyrout,  which  is 
now  surrounded  with  water,  was  once  joined  to  the  land.  The  shallow¬ 
ness  of  the  harbours  at  Jaffa  and  Acre  seem  to  show  the  same  thing. 

He  also  saw  ruins  under  the  water  at  Tyre.  If  we  are  to  trust  Benja¬ 
min  of  Tudela,  he  says  that,  in  his  day,  if  one  went  out  in  a  ship  a  little 
*vay,  he  might  see  ruins  of  streets  and  towers  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea. 

+  Josh.  xix.  29.  J  2  Sam.  xxiv.  7. 


SITE  OF  OLD  TYRE. 


261 


■  done  before  us,  we  stood  upon  the  ruins  of  insular  Tyre, 
and  stretching  our  eye  round  the  bay  to  the  south,  con¬ 
jectured  where  old  Tyre  may  have  been  situated ;  and 
afterwards  on  our  return  from  Acre,  we  traversed  the 
coast  and  sought  with  the  utmost  care  for  any  remains 
of  the  strong  city— but  in  vain.  The  word  of  the  Lord 
has  come  to  pass,  “  Though  thou  be  sought  for,  yet  thou 
shaft  never  be  found  again,  saith  the  Lord  God.”  * 

About  eight  miles  south  from  the  island,  a  high  rocky 
promontory  appears,  forming  a  precipice  over  the  sea, 
called  Cape  Blanco,  from  the  whiteness  of  the  rock.  The 
road  passes  over  it,  and  there  are  singular  steps  cut  in 
the  rock,  supposed  to  be  the  Scales.  Tyriorum ,  or  Tyrian 
Ladder,  of  the  ancients.  Now,  between  Cape  Blanco 
and  the  island,  there  is  a  spacious  bay,  with  one  or  two 
lesser  curves.  It  occurred  to  us  that,  in  the  days  of 
Tyre’s  glory,  when  they  took  “  cedars  from  Lebanon  to 
make  masts  for  her,  and  oaks  from  Bashan  to  make  oars, 
and  fine  linen  from  Egypt  to  be  spread  forth  as  her  sails 
when  “  all  the  ships  of  the  sea  with  their  mariners  were 
in  her  to  occupy  her  merchandise,”  this  vast  bay  may 
have  afforded  her  an  anchorage,  where  the  forests  of 
masts  would  present  to  the  eye  a  spectacle  not  less  noble 
than  any  which  can  be  seen  in  the  harbour  of  the  very 
greatest  of  our  commercial  cities,  and  this  in  a  region 
of  surpassing  beauty. 

Indeed,  it  is  not  unlikely  that  Old  Tyre  may  have  ex¬ 
tended  as  far  as  the  precipitous  summit  of  Cape  Blanco, 
from  which  its  name  Tsour,  that  is,  “  a  rock,”  may  have 
been  derived.  Tyre  on  the  Island  may  have  been  at 
first,  as  Jowett  has  conjectured,  the  harbour  of  the  ori¬ 
ginal  city,  connected  with  it,  as  the  remaining  aqueducts 
testify,  although  four  miles  distant  from  its  gates.  If 
there  be  truth  in  this  conjecture,  it  would  at  once  explain 
the  vast  circumference  of  the  city  as  described  by  Pliny, 
and  would  illustrate  the  glowing  description  of  Ezekiel, 
when  he  describes  how  “  her  builders  had  perfected  her 
beauty.” 

Keeping  both  the  Tyres  in  view,  we  could  not  fail  to 
notice  with  what  awful  accuracy  the  word  of  God  has 
been  verified  concerning  them.  The  word  of  Amos  has 
been  fulfilled,  “  For  three  transgressions  of  Tyrus,  and 
for  four,  I  will  not  turn  away  the  punishment  thereof. 
But  I  will  send  a  fire  on  the  wall  of  Tyrus  which  shall 
destroy  the  palaces  thereof”!  Not  a  vestige  of  her 

*  Ezek.  xxvi.  21.  I  Amos.  i.  9, 13. 


24* 


262 


TYRE — FULFILMENT  OF  PROPHECY. 


palaces  remains,  except  the  prostrate  granite  pillars,  over 
which  the  wave  is  ever  beating.  We  remembered,  too, 
as  we  looked  along  the  bare  shore,  the  minute  prediction 
of  Ezekiel,  “  They  shall  destroy  the  walls  of  Tyrus,  and 
break  down  her  towers:  I  will  also  scrape  her  dust  from 
her,  and  make  her  like  the  top  of  a  rock.  It  shall  be  a 
place  for  the  spreading  of  nets  in  the  midst  of  the  sea ; 
for  I  have  spoken  it,  saith  the  Lord  God.”  *  Alexander 
the  Great  seems  actually  to  have  scraped  away  the  very 
rubbish  as  well  as  the  stones  of  Old  Tyre  to  construct 
his  causeway;f  and  now  the  bare  rocks  along  the  shore, 
on  some  part  of  which  the  ancient  city  must  have  stood, 
•are  literally  a  place  for  the  spreading  of  nets.  The  first 
man  we  met  in  the  gate  of  Tyre  was  a  fisherman  carry¬ 
ing  a  load  of  fish,  and  the  fishing-boats  in  the  harbour 
we  have  already  mentioned.  If,  indeed,  the  sea  has  made 
an  advance  upon  the  coast,  then  the  very  rocks  where 
Old  Tyre  stood  may  be  now  under  water,  and  the  nets 
of  the  fisherman  may  thus  also  be  literally  spread  over 
them.  And  this,  also,  would  give  new  meaning  to  the 
expression,  “  Thou  shalt  be  broken  by  the  seas  in  the 
depths  of  the  waters;”!  although  at  the  same  time  the 
ruin  of  her  fleets  and  merchant-ships  will  completely 
satisfy  the  terms  of  this  prophecy.  How  interesting,  too, 
is  the  very  uncertainty  that  hangs  over  the  true  situation 
of  ancient  Tyre,  some  placing  it  on  the  shore,  some  at 
Ras  el-Ain  farther  inward,  and  some  on  a  rocky  eminence 
called  Marshuk,  to  the  north-east — all  combining  to  shew 
how  awfully  the  thrice-repeated  curse  has  been  fulfilled, 
“/  will  make  thee  a  terror  and  thou  shalt  be  no  more;”\ 
and  how  true  to  the  letter,  “  Though  thou  be  sought  for , 
yet  shalt  thou  never  be  found  again.” 

Looking  to  the  bare  rock  of  the  island,  or  to  the  vil¬ 
lage  that  stands  upon  it,  without  a  remnant  of  the  triple 
wall  and  fortress  once  deemed  impregnable,  a  traveller 
is  ready  to  ask,  in  the  very  words  of  the  prophet,  “  Is 
this  your  joyous  city,  whose  antiquity  is  of  ancient 
days  1”  “  Who  hath  taken  this  counsel  against  Tyre,  the 
crowning  city,  whose  merchants  are  princes,  whose  traf- 
fickers  are  the  honourable  of  the  earth  1  The  Lord  of 
hosts  hath  purposed  it,  to  stain  the  pride  of  all  glory,  and 

*  Ezek.  xxvi.  4.  Dr.  Newcome’s  note  on  this  passage  gives  us  the 
full  sense :  “  The  bare  shining  surface  of  a  rock." 

t  The  words  of  Quintus  Curtius,  quoted  by  Dr.  Keith,  are  very  re¬ 
markable  :  “  Humus  aggerebatur.”  f  Ezek.  xxvii.  34. 

$  Ezek.  xxvi.  21 ;  xxvii.  36 ;  xxviii.  19 


JEWS— SYNAGOGUE. 


263 


to  bring  into  contempt  all  the  honourable  of  the  earth.” 
“  He  stretched  out  his  hand  over  the  sea :  he  shook  the 
kingdoms ;  the  Lord  hath  given  a  commandment  against 
the  merchant-city,  to  destroy  the  strongholds  thereof.”  * 
But  a  brighter  day  is  yet  to  dawn  upon  Tyre,  when  it 
shall  be  a  city  of  holiness.  For  the  same  sure  word  of 
prophecy  declares,  that  though  after  its  ruin  it  should 
return  to  its  sinful  gains,  yet  a  time  is  coming,  when 
“  her  merchandise  and  her  hire  shall  be  holiness  to  the 
Lord ;  it  shall  not  be  treasured  nor  laid  up ;  for  her  mer¬ 
chandise  shall  be  for  them  that  dwell  before  the  Lord,  to 
eat  sufficiently,  and  for  durable  clothing.”!  May  not 
this  allude  to  some  event  connected  with  Israel’s  resto¬ 
ration  ;  for  it  is  they  who  shall  be  in  a  peculiar  manner 
the  people  “  that  dwell  before  the  Lord?' '  Perhaps  as 
Hiram  supplied  cedars  and  other  materials  for  the  tem¬ 
ple  in  the  days  of  Solomon,  Tyre  may  again  send  her 
supplies  to  assist  Israel  on  their  return  home. 

The  first  Jew  whom  we  met  in  Tyre  was  from  Algiers. 
He  had  there  acquired  a  little  knowledge  of  French  from 
the  army,  and  told  us  that  there  were  about  a  hundred 
Jews  in  Tyre ;  of  these,  five  families  had  come  recently 
from  Algiers,  and  the  rest  from  Saphet,  on  occasion  of 
their  dwellings  being  destroyed  by  the  earthquake  on 
1st  January,  1837.  He  led  us  to  the  synagogue,  one  of 
the  poorest  and  most  wretched  we  had  yet  seen,  having 
a  solitary  lamp  burning  beside  the  ark.  Several  Jews 
gathered  round  us.  The  Hebrew  Bible  was  produced, 
and  we  soon  entered  into  conversation  on  divine  things. 
One  interesting  young  Jew  seemed  a  little  impressed, 
and  often  carried  his  difficulties  to  the  elder  ones,  seek¬ 
ing  from  them  an  answer.  Under  a  verandah,  outside 
the  synagogue,  an  elderly  Jew  sat  on  the  ground  teach¬ 
ing  some  children.  Mr.  Bonar  tried  the  children  with  a 
few  simple  sentences  in  Hebrew,  and  they  in  turn  asked 
him  in  Hebrew  the  names  of  several  Scripture  charac¬ 
ters,  putting  such  questions  as  ntra  jn  >d,  “  who  was  the 
father  of  Moses  V' 

We  next  visited  the  Rabbi  of  Tyre  at  his  own  house. 
He  seemed  a  sagacious-looking  man,  kind  and  polite  in 
his  manners.  In  discussing  passages  of  Scripture,  when 
Mr.  Caiman  pushed  him  hard,  he  invariably  resorted  to 
his  commentators,  taking  down  from  a  shelf  some  old 
thin  folios.  As  we  sat  looking  out  at  the  open  window 


*  Isa.  xxiii.  7,  8,  9,  11. 


t  Isa.  xxiii.  18. 


264  TYRE — DISCUSSION  WITH  THE  RABBI. 

upon  the  bright  blue  sea,  we  observed  that  “  the  earth 
shall  yet  be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord,  as  the 
waters  cover  the  sea upon  which  he  made  this  inter¬ 
esting  remark,  that  as  there  are  many  caverns,  and  ine¬ 
qualities  of  depths  in  the  sea,  and  yet  the  surface  of  the 
water  is  all  smooth  and  level ;  so  shall  it  be  then,  people 
will  still  possess  unequal  capacities  of  knowledge  and 
enjoyment,  yet  all  will  present  one  common  appearance, 
because  each  will  be  filled  up  to  his  measure.  He  as¬ 
serted,  that  the  purpose  for  which  the  Jews  are  now 
scattered  over  the  world,  is  to  diffuse  the  knowledge  of 
the  true  God;  but  was  at  a  loss  for  a  reply  when  we  re¬ 
ferred  to  Ezekiel  xxxvi.  23,  “  My  great  name,  which  ye 
have  profaned  among  the  heathen.” 

We  now  retired  to  the  khan,  and  spread  our  carpets 
for  a  little  repose  before  leaving  Tyre,  but  our  visit  ex¬ 
cited  curiosity  throughout  the  Jewish  community,  and 
many  whom  we  had  not  seen  before  came  to  visit  us. 
With  our  back  to  a  pillar  of  the  khan,  and  the  Hebrew 
Bible  in  our  hand,  we  maintained  a  broken  conversation, 
often  with  half  a  dozen  at  a  time,  some  going  away,  oth¬ 
ers  coming.  One,  as  he  departed,  cried,  “  Come  away 
from  that  Epicurus.”  Some  were  a  little  angry,  but 
most  were  kind  and  good-natured.  We  showed  that 
Isaiah  i.  7,  had  been  fulfilled  before  their  eyes,  “Your 
country  is  desolate,  your  cities  are  burned  with  fire, 
your  land  strangers  devour  it  in  your  presence ;”  and, 
therefore,  v.  3  must  be  true  of  themselves,  “  Israel  doth 
not  know,  my  people  doth  not  consider.”  We  proved  to 
them  from  Zech.  xiii.  1,  that,  as  a  nation,  they  did  not  at 
present  know  the  way  of  forgiveness ;  for  God  says, 
“  In  that  day ,  there  shall  be  a  fountain  opened  to  the 
house  of  David,  and  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  for 
sin  and  for  uncleanness.”  Several  of  them  remained 
with  us  to  the  very  last,  conducted  us  through  the  nar¬ 
row  bazaar,  and  parted  with  us  outside  the  gate,  with 
expressions  of  kindness. 

As  we  moved  slowly  round  the  fine  sandy  bay  on  the 
southern  side  of  the  peninsula,  we  remembered  the  sol¬ 
emn  scene  which  that  very  shore  had  witnessed,  when  the 
Apostle  Paul  visited  Tyre  on  his  way  to  Jerusalem,  as 
recorded  by  Luke.  The  Tyrian  disciples  “  All  brought 
us  on  our  way,  with  wives  and  children,  till  we  were 
out  of  the  city;  and  we  kneeled  down  on  the  shore  and 
prayed.”  * 


*  Acts  xxi.  5. 


ANCIENT  TOMB — TRIBE  OF  ASHER. 


265 


Not  far  from  the  town,  our  mules  stopped  to  drink  at 
a  well,  where  the  trough  was  of  beautifully  carved  stone, 
and  seemed  to  have  been  an  old  sarcophagus.  We  pass¬ 
ed  a  small  grove  of  fragrant  lemon-trees,  and  then  cross¬ 
ed  an  old  aqueduct,  with  water  running  in  it.  Several 
of  the  gardens  had  watch-towers  in  them,  in  one  of  which 
we  saw  two  men  sleeping  on  a  sort  of  loft.  We  soon 
began  to  ascend  the  heights  which  form  the  eastern  back¬ 
ground  of  the  plain  around  Tyre,  and  often  looked  back 
to  enjoy  the  magnificent  view  of  the  sea,  the  coast  of 
Syrophenicia,  and  Tyre  itself,  with  its  rocks  stretching 
south  from  the  end  of  the  peninsula. 

In  two  hours  from  Tyre,  our  attention  was  attracted 
by  a  singular  monument  or  tomb,  resting  upon  immense 
hewn  stones.  The  upper  stone  was  very  large,  and  it 
was  not  easy  to  see  how  it  had  been  lifted  on  to  its  fel¬ 
lows.  Where  are  they  that  raised  it  1  Their  name  and 
object  are  alike  unknown.* 

Reaching  the  summit  of  the  ridge,  our  road  lay  south¬ 
east,  as  it  penetrated  into  the  interior  of  the  country.  In 
crossing  the  hills,  we  noticed  in  them  another  capability 
of  this  wonderful  land,  distinct  from  any  we  had  seen  in 
the  southern  parts.  The  sides,  and  even  the  summits, 
were  sprinkled  over  with  vigorous  olive-trees.  Some  of 
these  hills  were  no  doubt  1000  feet  high,  yet  their  tops 
were  frequently  crowned  with  groves  of  olives,  showing 
how  fertile  and  how  suitable  for  the  cultivation  of  the 
olive  this  range  must  have  been  in  former  days.  This 
was  the  more  remarkable,  because  we  were  now  in  the 
tribe  of  Asher ;  and  the  prophetic  blessing  pronounced 
upon  Asher,  was,  “  Let  him  dip  his  foot  in  oil.”  f  His 
hills  appear  to  be  suitable  neither  for  the  vine  nor  for 
pasture,  but  for  the  olive,  whose  berries  yield  the  finest 
oil.  To  this  also,  as  well  as  to  Asher’s  luxuriant  plains 
in  the  south  of  his  possession,  the  words  of  Jacob  may 
refer,  “  out  of  Asher  his  bread  shall  be  fat.”  \  Nor  is  it 
unlikely  that  the  promise,  “  Thy  shoes  shall  be  iron  and 
brass  ,”  \  may  have  a  reference  to  these  hills,  that  were 
his  defence  against  his  hostile  neighbours  in  Tyre  and 
Sidon.  In  days  of  quietness  and  peace,  his  hills  yield  him 

*  Robinson  mentions  this  monument,  and  says  that  it  bears  among 
the  common  people  the  name  of  Kabr  Hairan,  “  Sepulchre  of  Hiram.” 
“  It  is  possible  (he  adds)  that  this  sepulchre  once  held  the  dust  of  the 
friend  and  ally  of  Solomon.”  Vol.  iii.  385. 

t  Deut.  xxx iii;  24.  t  Gen.  xlix.  20.  $  Deut.  xxxiii.  25. 


266  KANAH  OF  ASHER — VILLAGE  OF  SEDEEKIN. 

oil  in  which  he  dips  his  feet;  in  war,  his  hills  are  to  him 
as  shoes  of  iron  and  brass. 

In  an  hour  from  the  ancient  monument,  we  came  to  a 
kind  of  basin  in  the  bosom  of  the  mountains — a  gentle 
hollow,  with  a  thriving  village  in  the  midst.  It  was  sur¬ 
rounded  with  luxuriant  corn-fields  and  verdant  olives, 
and  the  villagers  were  all  busy  at  the  corn-floor.  We 
asked  an  old  peasant  the  name  of  the  village ;  he  said, 
“  Kana.”  The  name  thrilled  to  our  heart,  so  strange  and 
pleasant  was  it  to  hear  a  Scripture  name  from  the  lips 
of  an  ignorant  Moslem.  It  is  every  way  probable  that 
this  is  the  Kanah  of  Asher  mentioned  in  Joshua.*  Near 
it  are  some  caves  or  tombs,  and  there  is  a  heap  of 
stones  on  a  hill  to  the  right  which  caught  our  attention, 
but  which  we  had  no  time  to  investigate.  The  situation 
of  the  village  is  retired  and  peaceful.  In  the  last  cottage 
we  passed,  some  Jews,  who  seemed  to  be  travellers,  were 
much  surprised  when  we  saluted  them  in  the  holy  tongue. 

Leaving  Kana,  we  proceeded  up  a  steep  ascent,  on  the 
summit  of  which  was  another  village  called  Sedeekin, 
that  is,  “  The  faithful,”  so  called  by  the  Moslems  because 
none  but  Mahometans  dwell  there.  It  is  beautifully  situ¬ 
ated  in  the  midst  of  fields  of  tobacco  and  fig-trees  in 
abundance.  It  may  be  the  site  of  some  one  of  the  towns 
named  along  with  Kanah,  “Hebron,  and  Rehob,  and 
Hammon.”  "The  inhabitants  were  all  in  the  field  reap¬ 
ing  their  harvest.  The  climate  on  the  high  hills  of  Gal¬ 
ilee  we  found  to  be  delicious.  The  hills  around,  as  far 
as  we  could  see,  were  covered  with  a  carpet  of  green, 
not  of  grass,  however,  but  of  brushwood  and  dwarf-trees. 
Crossing  over  a  low  hill,  and  descending  a  very  steep 
declivity,  we  came  to  the  entrance  of  a  deeply  shady 
glen,  called  Wady  Deeb,  that  is,  “Valley  of  the  Wolf,” 
no  doubt  from  its  being  a  favourite  resort  of  that  animal. 
Here  we  met  a  Moslem  returning  from  cutting  wood, 
with  his  axe  in  his  hand,  while  his  wife  followed  carrying 
the  bundle  of  wood  upon  her  head,  an  example  of  the 
degradation  to  which  women  are  subjected  in  eastern 
countries.  The  steep  hills  on  each  side  of  the  pass  rose 
to  the  height  of  800  feet,  and  were  finely  clothed  with  tall 
shrubs  and  trees.  The  road  winds  through  by  a  footpath, 
which  in  winter  is  probably  the  bed  of  a  torrent.  No¬ 
thing  could  exceed  the  romantic  beauty  of  this  ravine. 


*  Josh-  xix-  28. 


VILLAGE  OF  JETTAR — A  JEW  SHOT.  2G7 

Every  kind  of  tree  and  shrub  seemed  to  show  them¬ 
selves  in  turn,  the  beech-tree  and  valonea  oak,  the  wild 
rose,  the  broom,  and  many  others;  while  the  white 
flowers  of  the  woodbine  and  clematis  clustered  like  gar¬ 
lands  round  the  stronger  shrubs,  loading  the  evening  air 
with  their  fragrance.  We  pressed  on  for  an  hour° and 
a  half,  till  we  reached  a  large  natural  cave  on  the  left 
side  of  the  valley,  where  the  pathway  became  very  steep 
and  rocky ;  yet  it  was  wonderful  to  see  how  the  little 
Syrian  horses  clambered  up. 

The  darkness  had  now  settled  down  upon  us,  and  the 
fireflies  were  sparkling  through  the  air  in  all  directions. 
Reaching  the  summit,  we  discerned  our  nearness  to  a 
village  by  the  scent  of  the  straw,  peculiar  to  Arab  villages. 
The  name  of  it  was  Jettar,  and  we  were  directed  to  the 
khan,  an  enclosure  at  the  end  of  the  village,  which  had 
a  roof  and  one  wall  made  of  the  boughs  of  trees.  Under 
these  we  spread  our  mats,  thankful  to  find  a  place  of  rest. 
The  villagers  were  very  kind;  and  so  many  of  them 
came  to  visit  us,  that  our  lodging  was  full  of  strangers 
till  a  late  hour.  About  forty  families  live  here,  all  of  them 
Mahometans,  Fifteen  houses  were  destroyed  by  an 
earthquake  in  1837.  There  is  a  large  pond  of  water  be¬ 
side  the  village,  and  to  this  herds  of  leopards  and  wolves 
come  to  drink  at  night.  Wolves  and  wild  boars  abound 
in  the  valley  we  had  passed  through ;  and  gazelles  are 
numerous.  The  villagers  told  us,  that  near  this  place 
are  the  ruins  of  several  old  towns,  some  of  them  exten¬ 
sive.  They  mentioned  the  names  of  three,  Mirapheh, 
Mar-Yamin,  and  Medinatnahash  (“city  of  brass/’)  The 
name  Jettar,  and  the  striking  features  of  the  valley  Wady 
Deeb,  up  which  we  had  passed,  suggested  to  us  that  this 
may  be  the  valley  of  “  Jcphthah-el”  mentioned  in  Joshua.* 
It  is  above  five  hours  distant  from  Tyre. 

(July  11.)  We  were  awoke  early  in  the  morning  by 
the  sound  of  horses’  feet,  and  starting  up  saw  a  soldier, 
armed  with  gun  and  pistols,  looking  in  upon  us.  Along 
with  him  were  two  Jews  from  Tyre,  whom  we  imme¬ 
diately  recognised  as  friends.  One  told  us  in  his  broken 
French,  that  a  messenger  had  brought  word  to  Tyre  of 
a  Jew  having  been  shot  by  the  Bedouins  two  hours  further 
on  the  road  to  Saphet,  and  they  were  now  going  to  find 
his  body.  Whether  this  was  a  true  report  or’ not  we 


*  Josh.  xix.  27. 


268  TYRE  TO  SAPHET — MOUNTAIN  SCENERY. 

never  ascertained,  but  it  made  us  feel  that  our  way 
through  Galilee  was  not  unattended  with  danger.  The 
villagers,  too,  seemed  alarmed ;  they  were  going  to  a 
market  at  some  distance,  somewhere  in  the  direction  of 
Saphet,  and  were  very  anxious  that  we  should  accom¬ 
pany  them,  either  out  of  kindness  to  us  or  through  de¬ 
sire  of  protection  to  themselves.  We  thought  it  better, 
however,  to  journey  forward  by  ourselves,  as  we  could 
not  have  reached  Saphet  by  the  proposed  bypath  the 
same  night.  Their  advice  reminded  us  of  the  days  of 
Shamgar,  “  when  travellers  walked  through  byways.”  * 
We  read  Isaiah  xxvi.  in  our  morning  worship  under  a 
tree,  at  a  little  distance  from  the  village,  and  rode  on  our 
way  through  the  tribe  of  Naphtali. 

On  a  hill  near  were  the  ruins  of  a  small  fortress,  and 
caves  that  may  have  been  used  as  sepulchres.  The  Arabs 
called  the  place  Bedundah.  In  a  little  while  a  deep  valley 
came  in  sight  lying  beneath  us,  with  a  fine  pass  winding 
to  the  east,  the  hills  beyond  appearing  wooded  to  the 
top.  The  mouth  of  the  pass  was  shut  up  by  a  conical 
hill,  completely  wooded.  In  winding  round  this  hill,  we 
came  upon  a  well  and  a  watering  trough,  where  several 
shepherds  had  gathered  their  flocks  together  to  drink. 
The  quietness  of  the  valley  contrasted  with  the  rumours 
of  danger  from  the  Bedouins,  reminded  us  of  Judges, 
“They  that  are  delivered  from  the  noise  of  archers  in 
the  places  of  drawing  water.”f  For  some  time  hill  and 
valley  alternately  presented  themselves,  covered  with 
shrubs  and  trees.  At  one  place,  a  large  snake  glided 
away  from  us  among  the  shrubs,  and  once  or  twice  an 
owl  was  seen  perching  on  the  trees.}:  Coveys  of  par¬ 
tridges  also  frequently  crossed  our  path.  On  the  height 
above  was  a  village  called  Jibbah.  The  way  was  adorn¬ 
ed  with  many  wild  flowers,  and  we  were  occasionally 
refreshed  by  romantic  scenery.  The  jasmine  is  called 
by  the  Arabs  “  Jasmin-el-barie,”  that  is,  wild  jasmine, 
and  appears  to  be  a  native  of  the  country.  Often  it  was 
seen  creeping  to  the  top  of  the  trees,  and  there  forming 
a  snowy  crown,  or  twining  from  branch  to  branch  a 
garland  of  white  flowers.  The  yellow  broom  also,  a 
native  of  Palestine,  was  flourishing  in  great  profusion. 
Through  another  mountain  valley  we  came  into  a  small 

*  Judg.  v.  6.  tJudg.  v.  ll. 

t  Ps.  cii.  6,  “An  owl  of  the  desert  places.” 


OLIVE-PRESS— RAMEA— -KEFR-BIRHOM 


26& 


plain  of  great  beauty.  Here  an  old  olive-press  was  lying 
on  the  road-side.  A  wooden  screw  and  vice  seemed  in¬ 


tended  to  press  a  large  stone  upon  the  olives,  while  a 
stone  trough  beneath  received  the  oil.  At  the  eastern 
end  of  this  plain,  we  came  to  a  considerable  village  call¬ 
ed  Ramea,  with  a  large  circular  pool  of  water.  In  a 
wide  area  close  by,  heaps  of  corn  were  piled  up  ready 
to  be  trodden  out,  and  at  another  place  horses  were  em¬ 
ployed  in  treading.  Many  flocks  of  sheep  and  goats 
were  on  their  way  to  drink  at  the  pool. 

Leaving  this  beautiful  plain,  our  way  led  us  through 
mountain  passes  of  a  similar  character  to  those  already 
described,  only  here  we  observed  the  remains  of  ancient 
terraces,  and  remarked  that  the  natural  rock  is  frequent¬ 
ly  in  the  form  of  terraces,  as  in  the  hills  of  Judah. 
About  mid-day  we  came  in  sight  of  a  village  on  the  sum¬ 
mit  of  a  rocky  hill ;  to  which  we  gladly  turned  aside  to 
enjoy  a  little  rest.  Throughout  all  the  morning  we  had 
expected  to  fall  in  either  with  the  Bedouins,  or  our  Jew¬ 
ish  friends;  and  many  a  lurking-place  suitable  to  the 
designs  of  the  robber  we  passed,  but  no  evil  came  near 
us.  The  name  of  the  village  to  which  we  had  come  was 
Kefr-birhom;  its  inhabitants,  about  200  in  number,  are 
all  Maronite  Christians.  They  received  us  very  kindly, 
and  introduced  us  to  their  priest,  a  gentle  and  venerable- 
looking  man.  His  dress  was  a  dark  caftan  or  cloak,  and 
a  high  black  turban.  He  pressed  us  much  to  take  up 
our  lodging  in  an  upper  room  which  he  pointed  out  to 
us ;  but  we  preferred  the  deep  shade  of  a  spreading  fig- 
tree.  He  sat  down  with  us,  and  many  of  the  villagers 
at  a  respectful  distance ;  and,  through  Mr.  Caiman,  we 
had  some  discussion  on  points  of  doctrine.  One  of  us, 
wandering  through  the  village,  entered  into  the  cottage 

25 


270  KEFR-BIRHOM— ANCIENT  SYNAGOGUE. 

of  a  Maronite,  and  sitting  down  read  a  little  of  his  S y 
riac  prayer-book,  to  the  infinite  delight  of  the  poor  man, 
who  thereupon  welcomed  the  unknown  traveller  as  a 
brother.  Soon  after,  when  we  were  all  reclining  under 
the  fig-tree,  this  man  came  with  a  present  of  four  eggs ; 
and  on  being  presented  with  a  pencil-case,  ran  back  to 
his  house,  and  brought  us  two  pigeons.  Contrasting 
this  gift  with  the  present  of  a  sheep  which  the  Governor 
of  Hebron  brought  us,  we  saw  in  a  very  clear  manner 
the  considerateness  of  the  command  in  Leviticus  i.  10, 
14,  where  the  rich  man  was  expected  to  bring  a  sheep 
for  an  offering,  and  the  poor  man  two  young  pigeons  * 
While  seated  under  the  fig-tree,  several  Jews  arrived  on 
their  way  from  Tyre  to  Saphet,  among  whom  we  recog¬ 
nised  the  young  man  who  had  been  a  little  impressed  in 
the  synagogue.  He  soon  came  and  spoke  with  us,  and 
taking  up  the  Hebrew  Bible,  he  put  his  finger  on  Joshua 
ii.  1,  where  Joshua  is  described  as  sending  out  two  spies 
to  view  the  land,  “Now  (said  he)  you  are  these  spies.” 

We  found  in  the  village  traces  of  former  greatness, 
especially  in  the  north-east,  where  are  considerable  re¬ 
mains.  The  principal  ruin  is  that  of  an  ancient  syna¬ 


gogue.  The  doorway  and  two  windows  (one  on  each 
side  of  the  door)  was  still  in  good  preservation,  but  half 
sunk  in  the  rubbish.  The  upper  part  of  the  door  is 


*  Comp.  Luke  ii  24 ;  Lev.  xii.  8. 


MOUNT  NAPHTALI — VILLAGE  OK  GISH. 


271 


ornamented  with  a  fine  wreath  of  vine  leaves  and  bunches 
of  grapes  carved  in  the  stone,  and  in  beautiful  preserva¬ 
tion.  The  windows  are  also  adorned  with  carved  work; 
three  columns  are  still  standing,  and  several  fragments 
lie  scattered  through  the  village.  The  Maronites  and 
Jews  both  called  it  a  Jewish  synagogue,  and  connected 
it  with  the  name  of  Isaiah.*  We  were  told  also  that  the 
Jews  sometimes  go  there  to  pray.  In  a  field  about  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  distant  stands  another  doorway,  said 
to  be  not  so  elegant,  but  bearing  an  inscription  over  it. 
We  regretted  much  that  our  time  did  not  permit  us  to 
visit  it  and  endeavour  to  decypher  the  inscription. 

In  the  afternoon,  we  set  out  again,  having  the  Jews  in 
our  train,  and  conversing  with  them  by  the  way.  A  fine 
spreading  mountain  now  came  in  sight,  two  hours  dis¬ 
tant  on  the  right  hand,  commonly  supposed  to  be  Mount 
Naphtali,  resembling  Gueensberry  Hill  in  Dumfries-shire. 
There  is  a  considerable  plain  around  its  base,  which  may 
be  part  of  the  plain  of  Zaanaim ,  where  Heber  the  Kenite 
dwelt,  and  where  Barak  gathered  his  army.f  The  hill 
would  serve  as  a  mark  easily  seen  far  off  by  “  all  Zebu- 
lun  and  Naphtali,”  and  so  would  render  this  spot  the 
better  suited  for  a  rendezvous.  The  town  at  which  they 
met  was  Kadesh,  the  birthplace  of  Barak,  and  also  a  City 
of  Refuge.  If  Kadesh  stood  near  this  hill,  it  would  be 
well  fitted  for  a  city  of  refuge,  as  the  hill  would  point  out 
its  situation  at  a  great  distance  to  the  fleeing  manslayer, 
while  the  plain  made  his  flight  easy.  In  this  respect  it 
would  resemble  Sychem  and  Hebron,  which  were  also 
cities  of  Refuge. 

On  the  left  hand,  we  passed,  without  seeing  it,  the  vil¬ 
lage  of  Gish,  supposed  to  be  the  site  of  Gischala,  which 
Josephus  says  was  mostly  peopled  with  agriculturists, 
and  near  which  (he  says)  was  Kydessa,  which  may  be 
the  modern  village  Kadyta,  a  little  to  the  south-east. 
Mr.  Caiman  had  visited  Gish  immediately  after  the  earth¬ 
quake  by  which  it  was  totally  destroyed.  In  one  place 
he  mentioned  that  the  rocks  were  torn  asunder  to  a  con¬ 
siderable  breadth,  and  no  one  could  tell  the  deptn  of  the 
fissure.  About  half  a  mile  farther  on  we  turned  off  the 
road  to  the  left  to  visit  a  singular  pool  called  B:rket-el 
Gish.  It  bears  evident  marks  of  having  been  at  one  time 
the  crater  of  a  volcano.  It  is  of  an  oval  form,  and  about 
1100  paces  in  circumference.  This  we  ascertained  by 


*  Comp,  p.  280. 


t  Judg.  iv.  10,  11. 


272 


PLAIN  OF  GISH — SAPHET. 


walking  round  as  near  to  the  edge  as  the  sharp  project¬ 
ing  rocks  would  allow.  The  rocks  are  all  black,  evi¬ 
dently  composed  of  lava,  and  it  is  singular  to  notice  that 
to  the  south  and  east  the  fields  are  covered  with  black 
stones  of  the  same  description,  while  there  are  none  to 
the  north  and  west.  A  considerable  quantity  of  water 
was  collected  in  it,  and  the  flocks  are  driven  down  to  the 
edge  to  drink.  The  neighbouring  plain  is  called  Sachel- 
el-Gish,  or  “  Plain  of  Gish.”  The  plain,  the  pool,  and  the 
village  all  bearing  the  same  name,  shew  that  it  must  have 
been  a  place  of  some  importance. 

Returning  from  this  pool,  we  obtained  our  first  glimpse 
of  a  small  part  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  by  looking  past  the 
shoulder  of  Mount  Naphtali.  Saphet  also  was  full  in 
sight,  its  snow-white  houses  perched  on  the  summit  of  a 
lofty  hill,  gleaming  under  the  rays  of  the  setting  sun. 
This  is  believed,  though  without  any  positive  evidence, 
to  be  the  “  city  set  on  a  hill”  to  which  our  Lord  referred, 
and  perhaps  pointed,  in  his  Sermon  on  the  Mount ;  and 
certainly  no  place  in  all  Palestine  could  better  answer 
the  description.  We  were  not  able  to  ascertain  even 
from  the  Jews  the  name  of  any  Scripture  town  situated 
there.*  Before  coming  to  Saphet,  we  passed  a  village 
called  Saccas,  on  a  high  rugged  hill.  Descending  this 
hill,  Mr.  Bonar’s  mule  entangled  its  foot  in  a  fissure  of 
the  rock,  and  rolled  upon  its  side.  Its  rider  was  precipi¬ 
tated  to  the  ground,  without  suffering  any  injury ;  but 
the  poor  animal’s  foot  was  sorely  crushed,  and  the  mule¬ 
teer  led  it  along,  pouring  out  incessant  lamentations,  and 
often  kissing  it  like  a  child. 

After  crossing  several  ravines,  all  running  south  to¬ 
ward  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  we  climbed  the  hill  on  which 
Saphet  stands  by  a  very  steep  path  worn  deep  in  the 
white  limestone  rock.  Mr.  M‘Cheyne  rode  up  by  the 
path,  on  the  east  side  of  the  hill,  and  came  upon  ruins 
made  by  the  earthquake,  which  on  that  side  are  very  ap¬ 
palling.  Arriving  at  the  house  of  a  Jew,  he  was  kindly 
entertained,  and  requested  by  his  host  to  tell  the  news  of 
the  war.  Another  Jew  kindly  guided  him  to  the  rest  of 
our  company.  Mr.  Caiman,  being  well  acquainted  with 
the  place  and  with  the  Jewish  inhabitants,  soon  obtained 
for  us  a  comfortable  lodging  in  the  cottage  of  a  German 
Jew,  who  willingly  removed  to  make  way  for  us.  He 

*  The  name  Saphet  may  be  derived  from  ri5X  the  capital  of  a  pillar 
tl  Kings  vii.  41),  alluding  to  the  appearance  of  the  town  which  sur¬ 
mounts  the  hill,  very  much  in  the  way  that  a  capital  surmounts  a  pillar. 


ARRIVAL  AT  SAPHEI 


273 


lighted  up  the  lamp  filled  with  olive-oil,  and  we  spread 
our  mats  upon  the  floor.  We  found  all  the  Jews  here 
living  in  a  state  of  great  alarm.  The  troops  of  the  Pasha 
had  been  withdrawn,  being  engaged  in  the  war,  and  the 
Bedouins  were  every  day  threatening  an  attack  to  plun¬ 
der  the  town.  Only  four  soldiers  had  been  left  to  defend 
them,  and  these,  along  with  ten  Jews,  used  to  patrole 
the  town  all  night  to  give  alarm  in  case  of  an  assault. 
We  observed  how  poorly  clad  most  of  the  Jews  seemed 
to  be,  and  were  told  that  they  had  buried  under  ground 
all  their  valuable  clothes,  their  money,  and  other  pre¬ 
cious  things.  It  was  easy  to  read  their  deep  anxiety  in 
the  very  expression  of  their  countenances:  they  were 
truly  in  the  state  foretold  by  Moses  more  than  3000  years 
ago.  “  The  Lord  shall  give  thee  a  trembling  heart,  and 
failing  of  eyes,  and  sorrow  of  mind:  and  thy  life  shall 
hang  in  doubt  before  thee ;  and  thou  shalt  fear  day  and 
night,  and  shalt  have  none  assurance  of  thy  life.”  *  And 
all  this  in  their  own  land ! 

The  Jews  wondered  that  we  had  travelled  so  safely 
when  we  did  not  even  carry  fire-arms.  But  “  the  Lord 
had  gone  before  us,  and  the  God  of  Israel  had  been  our 
rereward.”  We  felt  deeply  thankful  for  the  mercies  of 
this  day,  and  slept  quietly  in  our  Jewish  cottage,  the  loud 
cry  of  the  jackals  being  the  only  sound  to  break  the  si¬ 
lence  of  the  night. 

(July  12.)  The  morning  air  was  cool  and  delightful  in 
this  elevated  region.  The  hill  on  which  Saphet  stands 
appears  to  be  of  great  height,  not  inferior  even  to  Tabor. 
The  town  is  built  upon  two  heights,  of  which  the  north¬ 
ern  and  upper  is  occupied  almost  entirely  by  the  Jews, 
the  lower  by  the  Mahometans.  On  the  highest  point  are 
the  ruins  of  the  castle.  All  its  houses  are  built  of  a  pure 
white  limestone,  which  gives  them  a  dazzling  appear¬ 
ance.  The  ruins  of  the  town,  caused  by  the  earthquake 
1st  January  1837,  are  every  where  to  be  seen,  and  in  some 
places  are  literally  heaps  upon  heaps;  for  the  town 
having  been  built  on  the  slopes  of  the  steep  hill,  one 
range  of  houses  actually  hung  over  the  other,  and  hence, 
in  the  earthquake,  the  houses  were  cast  one  upon  an¬ 
other.  The  Jews  have  rebuilt  a  great  part  of  their 
quarter,  out  of  veneration  for  the  Holy  City,  but  the  Ma¬ 
hometan  quarter  is  still  an  appalling  ruin. 

The  situation  of  Saphet  is  singularly  beautiful.  Look¬ 
ing  west  from  our  cottage  door,  the  noble  mountain  of 

*  Deut.  xxviii.  65,  66. 

25* 


274 


SAPHET — BAZAAR — MARKET. 


Naphtali  met  the  eye,  verdant  to  the  top,  and  the  fine  un¬ 
dulating  plain  stretching  east  and  west  at  its  base.  Look¬ 
ing  down  the  hill  on  which  the  town  itself  stands,  we  saw 
pleasant  groves  of  olives,  and  vineyards  supported  by 
terraces,  while  footpaths  and  tracks  in  the  white  rock 
wind  up  in  all  directions,  along  which  the  country  peo¬ 
ple  were  moving  slowly  with  mules  and  camels,  this  day 
(Friday)  being  the  market-day.  Close  to  the  town,  in 
the  N.  W.  is  a  village— a  small  suburb— called  Ain  Zei- 
toun,  “  well  of  olives.”  Further  off,  in  the  same  direc¬ 
tion,  is  the  village  of  Kadyta,  and  on  a  height  nearly  due 
west,  Saccas.  And  upon  the  side  of  the  hill  of  Naphtali, 
the  white  tombs  of  Marona  are  dimly  visible,— a  highly 
venerated  spot,  because  of  the  rabbis  buried  there. 

Walking  round  to  the  southern  brow  on  which  the 
Mahometan  quarter  is  built,  we  sat  down  among  the 
tombs  in  full  view  of  the  Lake  of  Galilee— solemn,  calm, 
and  still— and  meditated  over  the  scenes  that  had  been 
transacted  there.  Returning  by  the  bazaar,  we  had  an 
opportunity  of  witnessing  the  market  which  is  held  here 
weekly.  All  was  bustle  and  noise,  very  like  a  market 
at  home.  The  Bedouin  Arab  was  there,  fully  armed, 
with  his  long  firelock  under  his  arm ;  for,  though  he  is 
known  to  be  a  robber,  yet  he  attends  the  market  in 
peace,  no  one  laying  a  hand  upon  him,  in  wonderful  ful¬ 
filment  of  the  prophecy,  “  His  hand  will  be  against  every 
man,  and  every  man’s  hand  against  him,  and l  he  shall 
dwell  in  the  presence  of  all  his  brethren .”  *  Here,  too, 
were  the  Syrian  women  wearing  the  nose-jewel  alluded 
to  by  Isaiah,f  fastened  by  a  hole  bored  through  the  nos¬ 
tril,  not  so  large  or  uncomely  as  we  had  expected.  A 
much  more  unpleasant  yet  common  custom  is  the  stain¬ 
ing  of  the  chin  and  under  the  mouth  with  dots  of  henna. 
In  many  of  the  shops  the  only  weights  in  the  balance 
were  smooth  stones,  which  we  learn  from  the  book  of 
Proverbs!  were  also  used  in  ancient  days. 

The  custom  of  drying  corn  and  other  articles  on  the 
roofs  of  houses  here,  appears  to  be  as  common  as  it  was 
in  the  days  of  Rahab.§  The  houses  in  the  streets  have 
their  flat  roofs  so  connected,  that  nothing  could  be  easier 
or  more  natural  in  case  of  any  alarm,  than  to  walk  along 
the  whole  length  of  the  street  on  the  housetop,  without 
coming  down.||  Indeed,  there  are  some  yet  remaining, 

*  Gen.  xvi.  12.  t  Isa.  iii.  21.  t  Prov.  xi.  1;  xvi.  11.  See  original. 

$  Josh.  ii.  6.  Also  2  Sam.  xvii.  19.  II  Luke  xvu-  31. 


CURIOUS  LAW  CASE. 


275 


where  the  roofs  of  the  lower  row  of  houses  form  the 
pathway  of  the  row  above.  This  was  very  generally 
the  case  in  Saphet  before  the  earthquake,  and,  in  refe¬ 
rence  to  it,  a  well-known  story  is  current  among  the  in¬ 
habitants.  A  camel-driver  passing  along  the  street  sud¬ 
denly  saw  his  camel  sink  down.  It  had  been  walking 
on  the  roof  of  a  house,  and  the  roof  had  given  way. 
The  owner  of  the  house  was  filled  with  alarm  and  anger 
at  seeing  the  animal  descend  into  his  apartment.  He 
carried  the  case  to  the  Cadi,  claiming  damages  for  the 
broken  roof  of  his  house.  But  he  was  met  by  the  camel- 
driver  claiming  damages  from  him  for  the  injury  his 
camel  had  sustained  by  the  fall,  owing  to  the  roof  not 
being  kept  in  good  repair.  We  did  not  hear  the  decis¬ 
ion  of  the  Cadi  in  this  difficult  case. 

Towards  evening,  we  clambered  through  a  vineyard 
to  the  shapeless  ruins  of  the  castle,  which  surmounts  the 
highest  peak  of  the  hill  of  Saphet,  and  commands  the 
finest  view  of  the  Lake  of  Galilee.  Here  we  disturbed 
several  serpents  of  considerable  size,  which  darted  out 
of  sight  at  our  approach,  or  glided  down  the  slope. 
Large  vultures  also  were  hovering  over  our  heads  in 
great  numbers. 

We  climbed  up  to  the  highest  part  of  the  untenanted 
walls,  and  sat  down.  Immediately  below  us  was  the 
Governor’s  house  and  the  Mahometan  quarter,  and  part 
of  the  hill  clothed  with  fig  and  olive  trees.  Three  ridges 
more  intervene,  and  then  the  Lake  of  Galilee  appears. 
It  did  not  seem  more  than  two  miles  off,  though  in  real¬ 
ity  four  hours  distant,  so  much  does  the  clear  atmos¬ 
phere  deceive  the  sight.  The  greater  part  of  the  lake 
was  in  view,  nearly  in  the  form  of  an  oval, — a  deep  blue 
expanse  of  calm,  unruffled,  silent  waters.  Through  part 
of  the  middle  of  the  lake,  we  could  discern  a  streak  like 
the  track  of  a  vessel  that  had  lately  cut  the  waters.  This 
might  possibly  be  caused  by  the  current  of  the  Jordan 
passing  through  it ;  but  of  this  we  were  rather  sceptical, 
for  at  other  times  we  could  not  discover  any  thing  like 
this  appearance.  On  the  eastern  side  the  mountains  are 
lofty  and  bare,  descending  abruptly  on  the  shore.  We 
could  not  descry  a  single  village  or  town  on  that  side, 
although  smoke  was  rising  from  one  or  two  points.  On 
the  western  side  the  hills  are  not  so  lofty  nor  so  close 
upon  the  lake ;  but  there  is  more  variety.  We  remarked 
that  there  was  no  part  of  the  margin  which  showed  any 
thing  like  a  plain  except  that  part  in  the  north-west 


276  LAKE  OF  GALILEE — GENNESARETH. 

\ 

where  a  verdant  plain  extends  apparently  three  or  four 
miles  along  the  shore,  and  seemed  to  be  a  mile  or  a  mile 
and  a  half  at  its  greatest  breadth.  We  concluded  aL 
once  that  this  must  be  the  plain  of  Gennesareth ,  of  which 
Josephus  speaks  in  such  glowing  terms,*  and  the  land 
of  Gennesareth,  so  often  mentioned  in  the  Gospel  narra¬ 
tive,,  where  stood  Capernaum,  and  other  cities,  whose 
very  site  is  now  unknown. 

South  of  the  plain,  two  rocky  promontories  run  out 
into  the  lake.  Over  the  nearest,  a  few  buildings,  dimly 
discernible,  indicated  the  site  of  Tiberias ;  but  a  little 
further  a  white  building  attracts  the  eye  upon  the  shore. 
It  is  the  hot  baths  of  Tiberias.  Over  the  second  promon¬ 
tory  a  distant  village  is  visible,  probably  Kerak,  the  an¬ 
cient  Taric/icea ;  and  there  the  view  of  the  lake  is  bound¬ 
ed.  The  whole  extent  of  the  lake  may  be  about  fifteen 
miles  in  length,  and  nine  miles  at  the  greatest  breadth. 
The  view  of  the  hill  country  to  the  west  and  south-west 
of  the  lake  is  very  beautiful.  The  heights  of  Huttin, 
commonly  fixed  on  by  tradition  as  the  Mount  of  Beati¬ 
tudes,  appear  a  little  to  the  west  of  Tiberias.  Over  these 
the  graceful  top  of  Mount  Tabor  is  seen,  and  beyond  it 
the  Tittle  Hermon,  famous  for  its  dews ;  and  still  further, 
and  apparently  higher,  the  bleak  mountains  of  Gilboa , 
on  which  David  prayed  that  there  might  fall  no  dew  nor 
rain.f 

A  view  of  the  position  of  Tabor  and  Hermon  from 
such  a  situation  as  that  which  we  now  occupied,  showed 
us  how  accurately  they  might  be  reckoned  the  “  umbili¬ 
cus  terra?' — the  central  point  of  the  land, — and  led  us  to 
infer  that  this  is  the  true  explanation  of  the  manner  in 
whi-ch  they  are  referred  to  in  the  89th  Psalm :  “  The  north 
and  the  south  thou  hast  created  them ;  Tabor  and  Her¬ 
mon  shall  rejoice  in  thy  name."\  It  is  as  if  the  Psalmist 
had  said,  North,  south,  and  all  that  is  between — or,  in 
other  words,  the  whole  land  from  north  to  south,  to  its 
very  centre  and  throughout  its  very  marrow — shall  re¬ 
joice  in  thy  name. 

We  could  imagine  the  days  when  Jesus  walked  down 
by  the  side  of  that  lake,  and  preached  to  silent  multitudes 
gathered  round  him.  It  seemed  at  that  moment  unspeak¬ 
able  condescension,  that  God  in  our  nature  should  once 
have  stood  on  some  of  these  slopes,  and  stretched  out 
his  hand  to  sinners  as  he  spoke  in  the  tone  of  heavenly 

*  Wars,  iii.  10,  sec.  8.  t  2  Sam  i.  21.  1  Ps.  Ixxxix.  12. 


SAPHET — JEWISH  SYNAGOGUE. 


277 


love,  «  Come  unto  me,  and  I  will  give  you  rest !”  And 
it  was  strangely  solemn  to  be  gazing  upon  rocks  that 
echoed  to  his  prayers  by  night,  and  desert  places  where 
he  was  alone  with  his  Father :  “  He  departed  again  unto 
a  mountain  himself  alone “  and  his  disciples  went  down 
unto  the  sea.”  *  All  sides  of  the  lake  are  now  compara¬ 
tively  bleak  and  dreary ;  yet  they  suit  the  stillness  of  the 
scene.  Not  a  tree  is  to  be  seen  on  the  mountains;  and 
even  the  land  of  Gennesareth,  so  famous  in  the  days  of 
Josephus  for  the  amazing  variety  and  luxuriance  of  its 
trees  and  shrubs,  is  now  only  a  wilderness  of  reeds  and 
bushes.  “  Behold  your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate  !”f 
The  house  remains,  but  it  is  desolate.  The  rocks  and 
mountains  around  the  sea  continue  unaltered ;  the  water 
of  the  lake  is  as  pure  and  as  full  as  in  ancient  days ;  and 
yet  the  place  is  most  desolate.  Its  cities  are  gone,  and 
the  vast  population  that  once  thronged  its  shores  are 
now  reduced  to  a  few  miserable  inhabitants  of  mud- 
walled  villages. 

Returning  from  this  solemn  scene,  we  bent  our  steps 
toward  the  Jewish  quarter.  They  reckon  Saphet  a  pe¬ 
culiarly  holy  city,  because  Simeon,  author  of  the  Zohar, 
and  many  other  eminent  rabbis,  are  buried  in  its  vicinity. 
We  entered  a  synagogue,  where  several  persons  were 
reading  the  Talmud  and  the  Commentators.  A  young 
man  was  reading  a  commentary  on  1  Chron.  xxix.  where 
the  dying  words  of  David  are  recorded.  This  led  us  to 
speak  of  what  a  man  needed  when  death  arrived,  and 
we  came  at  length  to  the  question,  How  can  a  sinner  be 
righteous  before  God!  We  were  speaking  in  a  mixture 
of  Hebrew  and  German.  The  young  man  was  very 
earnest,  but  several  gathered  round  and  stopped  the 
conversation  by  asking  “  From  what  country  do  you 
come  V*  Before  leaving,  Mr.  Bonar  read  out  of  a  Ger¬ 
man  tract  the  story  of  Salmasius,  who  on  his  deathbed 
wished  that  he  had  devoted  his  life  to  the  study  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  In  another  synagogue,  a  young  man 
who  spoke  Hebrew  and  German,  conversed  with  us, 
and  three  old  men  joined  us  for  a  short  time,  but  all  of 
them  looked  suspiciously  upon  us,  and  soon  went  away. 
We  learned  in  the  course  of  the  day,  that  they  had  heard 
from  some  of  Sir  Moses  Montefiore’s  attendants,  that  we 
were  come  for  the  purpose  of  making  them  Christians, 
and  had  been  warned  to  enter  into  no  discussions. 

In  the  evening  toward  sunset,  we  could  observe  the 

*  John  vi.  15, 16.  t  Matt,  xxiii.  38. 


278 


SAPHET — JEWISH  SABBATH. 


preparations  going  on  in  every  Jewish  dweiling  for  the 
Sabbath.  The  women  brought  out  of  the  oven  the  bread 
they  had  baked,  beautifully  white  wheaten  bread,  the  first 
we  had  seen  among  the  natives  of  Palestine.  The  houses 
were  all  set  in  order,  the  table  arranged,  and  the  couches 
spread ;  in  every  dwelling  the  Sabbath  lamp  was  lighted, 
and  a  low  murmur  was  heard,  while  the  father  of  the 
family  repeated  the  appointed  benediction.  “Blessed 
art  thou,  O  Lord,  King  of  the  World,  who  hast  sanctified 
us  by  thy  commandments,  and  commanded  us  to  light 
the  Sabbath  lamp.”  Soon  after,  all  hurried  to  the  syna¬ 
gogue,  to  bring  in  the  Sabbath  there. 

There  are  two  synagogues  of  the  Ashkenazim,  and 
two  of  the  Sephardim  in  Saphet ;  and  six  of  those  places 
for  study  called  Yishvioth.  We  visited  one  of  the  former, 
and  found  it  very  neat  and  clean,  beautifully  lighted  up 
with  lamps  of  olive-oil.  Several  very  venerable  men 
were  seated  all  round ;  more  than  half  of  the  worshippers 
had  beards  verging  to  pure  white,  and  grey  hair  flowing 
on  their  shoulders.  It  was  indeed  a  new  scene  to  us.  In 
reading  their  prayers,  nothing  could  exceed  their  vehe- 
mency.  They  read  with  all  their  might ;  then  cried  aloud 
like  Baal’s  prophets  on  Mount  Carmel ;  and  from  time  to 
time,  the  tremulous  voice  of  some  aged  Jew  rose  above 
all  the  rest  in  earnestness.  The  service  was  performed 
evidently  as  a  work  of  special  merit.  One  old  man  often 
stretched  out  his  hand  as  he  called  on  the  Lord,  and 
clenched  his  trembling  fist  in  impassioned  supplication. 
Some  clapped  their  hands,  others  clasped  both  hands  to¬ 
gether,  and  wrung  them  as  in  an  agony  of  distress,  till 
they  should  obtain  their  request.  A  few  beat  upon  their 
breasts.  One  man,  trembling  with  age,  seemed  to  fix  on 
the  word  “  Adonai,”  and  repeated  it  with  every  variety 
of  intonation,  till  he  exhausted  his  voice.  All  of  them, 
old  and  young,  moved  the  body  backward  and  forward, 
rocking  to  and  fro,  and  bending  toward  the  ground. 
This  indeed  is  an  important  part  of  worship  in  the  esti¬ 
mation  of  strict  Talmudists,  because  David  says,  “  All 
my  bones  shall  say,  Lord ,  who  is  like  unto  thee  ?”  *  When 
all  was  over,  one  young  man  remained  behind  prolong¬ 
ing  his  devotions,  in  great  excitement.  We  at  first 
thought  that  he  was  deranged,  and  was  caricaturing  the 
rest,  but  were  assured  that,  on  the  contrary,  he  was  a 
peculiarly  devout  man.  Sometimes  he  struck  the  wall, 
and  sometimes  stamped  with  his  feet ;  often  he  bent  his 

*  Ps.  xxxv.  10. 


SYNAGOGUE  WORSHIP — VINEYARDS. 


279 


whole  body  to  the  ground,  crying  aloud,  “  Adonai,  is  not 
Israel  thy  people!”  in  a  reproachful  tone,  as  if  angry  that 
God  did  not  immediately  answer.  The  whole  service 
seemed  embodying  to  the  life  the  description  given  by 
fsaiah,  “  Wherefore  have  we  fasted,  say  they,  and  thou 
seest  not!  wherefore  have  we  afflicted  our  souls,  and 
thou  takest  no  knowledge !”  “  ye  shall  not  fast  as  ye  do 
this  day,  to  make  your  voice  to  be  heard  on  high.”  * 

We  never  felt  more  deeply  affected  at  the  sight  of 
Israel.  It  was  the  saddest  and  most  solemn  view  of  them 
that  we  had  yet  obtained. — Sincere,  anxious,  devout 
Jews  “  going  about  to  establish  their  own  righteous¬ 
ness.”  None  seemed  happy;  even  when  all  was  over, 
none  bore  the  cheerful  look  of  men  who  had  ground  to 
believe  that  their  prayers  had  been  accepted.  Many  had 
the  very  look  of  misery,  and  almost  of  despair. 

We  had  just  time  to  look  in  upon  two  other  syna¬ 
gogues  before  they  broke  up.  The  devotions  in  all 
seemed  to  be  conducted  in  one  spirit  of  vehement  and 
intense  excitement.  Yet  it  is  said  that  the  Jews  of  Ti¬ 
berias  exceed  them  in  the  earnestness  of  their  religious 
services.  All  the  Ashkenazim  here  belong  to  the  sect 
called  “  Chasidim,”  who  are  by  far  the  most  superstitious 
and  Pharisaical  sect  among  the  Jews. 

On  Saturday  morning  (July  13),  walking  out  a  little 
way,  we  came  to  part  of  the  hill  where  are  some  small 
vineyards,  with  vines  trained  on  terraces,  affording  a 
specimen  of  former  times.  It  is  a  surface  of  rock  with  a 
thin  sprinkling  of  earth,  that  has  been  thus  cultivated. 
Frequently  the  rocky  terraces  are  entirely  concealed  by 
the  verdant  vines  which  hang  over  them,  and  often  we 
passed  through  rows  of  vines,  where  the  road  was 
covered  from  view  by  the  spreading  luxuriance  of  the 
branches.  To  such  a  fruitful  and  spreading  vineyard, 
where  the  very  roads  were  overspread  by  luxuriant 
boughs,  Job  referred,  when  he  said  of  the  wicked’s  final 
ruin,  “  he  beholdeth  not  the  way  of  the  vineyards .”  | 

We  had  planned  a  journey  to  explore  the  upper  end  of 
the  Lake  of  Galilee,  and  see  if  any  marks  could  be  found 
to  decide  the  position  of  Bethsaida;  but  difficulties  came 
in  our  way.  Some  assured  us  that  the  journey  would 
occupy  only  two  hours  ;  others  said  that  it  would  require 
seven,  and  that  the  Bedouins  had  taken  some  horses  there 
a  few  days  ago,  so  that  we  must  be  accompanied  by  a 
guard.  The  uncertainty  as  to  distance  determined  us 

t  Job  xxiv.  18. 


*  Isa.  Iviii.  3,  4. 


280 


VISIT  TO  MARONA. 


not  to  go,  for  we  did  not  wish  to  risk  breaking  m  upon 
the  Sabbath-day.  We  accordingly  resolved  to  visit  Ma- 
rona,  whose  white  tomb  was  in  sight,  the  burying-place 
of  many  illustrious  Jews,  and  also  a  village  named  Jur- 
mah,  higher  up  the  mountain,  whither  many  Jews  had 
fled  from  the  present  danger.  Every  year  Jewish  pil¬ 
grims  visit  the  sepulchres  of  Marona,  and  after  many 
prayers,  burn  precious  shawls  dipped  in  oil  in  honour  of 
the  dead  rabbis.  This  very  year  Sir  Moses  Montefiore 
had  gone  on  a  pilgrimage  to  it,  the  Jews  of  Saphet  ac¬ 
companying  him  in  a  body.  They  sung  as  they  went, 
and  clapped  their  hands  in  concert  with  the  song.  They 
prayed  at  the  tombs  and  returned. 

Mr.  Caiman  preferred  remaining  in  Saphet,  both  in 
order  to  see  some  of  his  old  Jewish  friends,  and  not  to  give 
needless  offence,  which  would  have  been  done  had  they 
seen  one  of  their  former  brethren  travelling  on  the  Jew¬ 
ish  Sabbath.  Descending  from  the  hill  of  Saphet,  we 
crossed  a  rocky  wilderness,  and  passed  through  a  fine 
olive-grove.  Here  we  met  a  large  train  of  mules  carry¬ 
ing  merchandise  on  their  way  from  Nablous  to  Damascus. 

Soon  after,  we  began  to  ascend  Mount  Naphtali,  and 
in  less  than  two  hours  from  Saphet  came  to  Marona.  It 
must  have  been  an  ancient  place,  for  there  are  the  ruins 
of  terraces;  also  many  caves  and  excavated  tombs, 
some  of  them  large  and  very  curious.  But  the  most  re¬ 
markable  object  is  a  beautiful  gateway,  like  the  one  we 
saw  at  Kefr-birhom.  The  carving  appeared  to  be  after 
the  same  pattern.  The  stones  are  very  large,  and  the 
whole  space  occupied  by  the  edifice  can  be  accurately 
traced  by  the  large  foundation-stones  that  are  distinctly 
visible.  A  pillar  said  to  belong  to  this  building,  lay 
among  the  ruins  in  the  village.  Below  this  spot  are 
situated  the  tombs  of  the  holy  men  of  the  Jews,  having 
a  white-washed  oratory  built  over  them,  and  enclosed 
within  walls.  We  entered  by  a  narrow  gate,  and  found 
ourselves  in  a  court,  in  the  centre  of  which  grew  a 
spreading  fig-tree.  From  this  court  is  the  entrance  to 
the  white  oratory,  a  cool  pleasant  spot,  having  an  ostrich- 
shell  suspended  from  the  roof.  There  is  a  desk  with 
prayer-books  for  the  use  of  Jewish  pilgrims,  among  which 
we  left  one  of  our  Hebrew  tracts.  The  devout  Jews  have 
left  their  names  scrawled  over  the  walls.  Beneath  re¬ 
pose  the  ashes  of  Jewish  saints,  and  the  most  distin¬ 
guished  of  all,  the  author  of  Zohar,  lies  here.*  A  little 

*  See  his  history  in  the  Appendix,  No.  III. 


281 


VILLAGE  OF  JURMAH, 

.ower  down  the  hill,  we  entered  a  large  cave,  having 
seven  vaults  hewn  out  in  it,  containing  many  places  for 
dead  bodies,  all  empty.  At  the  entrance  lay  four  singu¬ 
larly  carved  stones,  probably  intended  for  lids  of  the  sar¬ 
cophagi.  Some  of  the  Jews  of  the  place  were  absurd 
enough  to  assert,  that  this  village,  Marona,  is  the  Shim- 
ron-meron  of  Joshua  xii.  20,  and  they  called  the  channel 
of  a  small  winter-torrent  close  by  “  the  waters  of  Megiddo.” 
They  proved  the  former  merely  from  the  likeness  in  the 
name,  and  the  latter  from  the  circumstance  of  Kedesh, 
Megiddo,  and  Taanach,  all  occurring  in  the  history  of 
Barak’s  expedition  against  Sisera,  and  then  occurring 
along  with  Shimron-meron  in  Joshua  xii.  20, 22.  The  vil- 
lage^itself  is  poor  and  wretched,  adorned  by  a  solitary 
palm-tree.  It  belongs  to  the  Maronite  Christians,  who 
have  such  respect  for  the  chief  man  among  the  Jews  there 
that  they  give  full  protection  to  all  his  brethren. 

We  now  ascended  an  hour  higher  up  the  mountain  to 
Jurmah.  The  road  was  wild  and  beautiful,  and  the  at¬ 
mosphere  at  this  elevation  pure  and  delightful.  The 
myrtle-trees  were  in  full  blossom,  and  the  whole  way 
was  lined  with  shrubs  and  evergreens,  till  we  reached 
the  village.  It  is  situated  upon  a  level  brow  of  the  hill 
just  where  the  view  opens  out  towards  the  Lake  of  Gal¬ 
ilee.  Here  we  had  been  directed  to  inquire  for  the  house 
of  Rabbi  Israel.  We  found  him  sick  and  in  bed,  but  his 
family  and  the  other  Jews  of  the  place  received  us  very 
kindly.  About  fifteen  reside  here,  principally  Russians, 
who  had  left  Saphet  on  account  of  the  unsettled  state  of 
the  country.  The  table  was  spread  with  a  clean  white 
cloth  ;  bread,  cheese,  milk,  and  a  kind  of  spirit,  were  pro¬ 
duced,  and  we  were  pressed  to  partake.  We  conversed 
in  Hebrew  and  German,  and  before  leaving  had  some 
conversation  regarding  the  pardon  of  sin.  We  felt  it 
deeply  interesting  to  partake  of  Jewish  hospitality  in  one 
of  the  villages  of  the  land  of  Israel,  and  they  seemed 
friendly  and  not  at  all  offended  by  our  words.  From  the 
door  of  the  house,  they  pointed  out  Bet-jan,  a  village  half 
an  hour  from  this,  in  which  several  Jewish  families  had 
taken  refuge ;  and  told  us  of  a  village  three  hours  further 
up  the  mountain,  called  Bukeah,  where  twenty  Jews  re¬ 
side,  and  where  they  cultivate  the  ground  like  Fellahs. 
If  this  be  true,  it  is  the  only  instance  we  heard  of  in 
which  the  Jews  till  the  ground  in  Palestine. 

Descending  the  hill,  we  returned  to  Saphet  in  time  to 

26 


282  RETURN  TO  SAPHET— SEPHARDIM  SYNAGOGUES. 

visit  the  synagogues  of  the  Sephardim.  On  our  way  we 
met  an  old  Jew,  carrying  his  prayer-book  in  his  handj  in 
the  same  manner  as  our  old  Scottish  peasants  carry 
their  Bibles  to  church.  O  that  Israel  had  the  same  light 
upon  the  Word  of  God,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  has  granted 
to  many  of  our  peasants  in  Scotland ! 

The  synagogues  of  the  Sephardim  are  both  within  a 
small  court,  in  which  fig-trees  are  planted ;  and  both  are 
clean,  white-washed,  and  well  lighted  up.  Here  we  got 
into  converse  with  the  same  interesting  young  Jew  who 
had  followed  us  from  Tyre.  When  we  were  speaking 
on  Psalm  xxxii,  the  blessedness  of  being  forgiven,  he 
said,  “  But  I  obtained  forgiveness  long  ago,  by  taking 
four  steps  in  this  holy  land.”  And  referring  to  Isaiah 
liii,  he  said,  “Yes,  it  applied  to  Messiah,  who  is  now  sit¬ 
ting  at  the  gate  of  Rome  among  the  poor  and  the  sick” 
— a  singular  legend  which  exists  in  the  Talmud,  and  is 
one  of  the  ways  by  which  the  Jews  evade  the  force  of 
that  remarkable  prophecy.  Whenever  any  entered  into 
converse  with  us  in  the  synagogue,  they  were  forbidden 
by  the  frown  and  authority  of  elder  Jews.  At  last  they 
cut  off  all  further  debate  by  beginning  the  public  prayers. 
The  same  young  Jew  afterward  meeting  Mr.  M’Cheyne 
in  the  street,  and  observing  a  strong  staff  in  his  hand, 
requested  him  to  give  him  a  present  of  it.  He  made  his 
request  in  Hebrew  aniR  roN  onjn  dni  mn  nann  G  in 

run  nn  “  Give  me  this  staff,  and  if  the  Arabs  come,  I  will 
smite  them  with  it.”  It  was  strange  to  hear  this  youth 
speaking  the  language  of  his  fathers  on  their  own  moun¬ 
tains. 

This  evening,  we  heard  that  a  party  of  Bedouins  had 
come  down  upon  the  little  village  of  Mijdel,  on  the  bor¬ 
der  of  the  Lake  of  Galilee,  and  plundered  the  villagers 
of  all  their  goods  and  cattle.  This  news  spread  fresh 
alarm  through  Saphet. 

(July  14.)"  We  spent  a  pleasant  Lord’s  day.  We  sat 
in  the  open  air  enjoying  “  the  shadow  of  a  cloud,”  *  and 
the  cooling  breeze  that  swept  over  the  hill.  In  the  fore¬ 
noon,  beneath  the  shade  of  an  olive-grove,  with  Mount 
Naphtali  full  in  view,  we  read  together  the  Epistle  to  the 
Philippians,  and  worshipped.  In  the  afternoon  we  join¬ 
ed  again  in  social  worship  on  the  southern  brow  of 
the  hill  among  the  Mahometan  tombs,  with  the  Lake 


*  Isa.  xxv.  5. 


TOMBS-— THE  “  ERUV.” 


283 


of  Galilee  at  our  feet.  While  walking  down  the  face  of 
the  hill,  we  came  upon  a  cave  where  the  Jews  had 
thrown  aside,  from  religious  scruples,  leaves  of  Hebrew 
books,  and  many  MSS.  written  on  parchment  rolls,  in 
W’hich  some  defect  had  been  found.  This  cave  was 
amidst  the  flat  gravestones  that  whiten  that  part  of  the 
hill.  On  the  tombs,  few  of  the  inscriptions  were  inter¬ 
esting.  Almost  all  ran  in  the  same  terms,  beginning 
generally  with  the  common  formula,  viz.  the  two  letters,  jd, 
that  is,  “  Here  is  buried and  then  the  individual’s  name 
and  character,  on  t^N,  “A  man  perfect  and  upright.” 
One  quaint  inscription  quoted  the  words  of  the  prophet 
Habakkuk,  and  applied  them  to  a  dead  rabbi,  as  one 
whom  even  the  inanimate  objects  would  lament,  “  For 
the  stone  shall  cry  out  of  the  wall ;  and  the  beam  out  of 
the  timber  shall  answer  it.”  * 

In  returning  to  our  dwelling  in  the  afternoon,  a  Jew 
constrained  Mr.  Caiman  to  go  into  his  house.  It  turned 
out  that  the  man  was  intoxicated,  and  that  he  was  a 
Russian  who  had  become  a  Jew.  Such  cases  of  apos¬ 
tasy  on  the  part  of  professing  Christians  sometimes 
occur.  Mr.  Caiman  knew  two  others  who  had  become 
Jews  in  a  similar  manner.f 

It  was  here  that  we  first  observed  the  any,  “  Eruv,”  a 
string  stretched  from  house  to  house  across  a  street,  or 
fastened  upon  tall  poles.  The  string  is  intended  to  re¬ 
present  a  wall ,  and  thus  by  a  ridiculous  fiction  the  Jews 
are  enabled  to  fulfil  the  precept  of  the  Talmud,  that  no 
one  shall  carry  a  burden  on  the  Sabbath-day,  not  even 
a  prayer-book  or  a  handkerchief,  or  a  piece  of  money, 
except  it  be  within  a  walled  place.  How  applicable  still 
are  the  words  of  Jesus,  “  In  vain  do  they  worship  me, 
teaching  for  doctrines  the  commandments  of  men.”| 

In  the  evening,  our  servant  Antonio,  a  simple  kind- 
hearted  lad,  read  with  us  in  the  Italian  Bible.  He  was 
much  struck  with  Christ’s  words  on  the  cross,  “ Dio  mio , 
Dio  mio ,  perche  m’  hai  lasciato ,”  “My  God,  my  God, 
why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  !”  He  had  for  several  nights, 
at  the  end  of  the  day’s  journey,  sat  down  alone  to  read 
a  little.  Mr.  Caiman  began  to  address  the  muleteers ; 
but  one  of  them,  when  he  heard  how  the  Sabbath  ought 


*  Hab.  ii.  11. 

t  There  is  a  singular  instance  in  the  history  of  our  own  Church,  re¬ 
corded  by  Wodrow,  of  one  Fr.  Borthwick,  who  was  accused  of  ,'uda* 
ism. 

1  Matt.  xv.  9. 


284 


SAPHET  AS  A  MISSIONARY  STATION. 


to  be  sanctified,  said,  “  He  did  not  like  that,  for  it  was 
the  only  day  he  had  for  fantasies ,”  that  is,  amusements. 

Thus  our  last  evening  in  Saphet  came  to  a  close.  We 
could  not  help  desiring  that  the  time  would  come  when 
our  beloved  Church  should  be  permitted  to  establish  a 
Mission  here.  When  the  Deputation  was  unbroken,  we 
had  often  spoken  together  upon  the  subject,  and  had 
always  turned  toward  this  spot  as  probably  the  most 
desirable  situation  in  Palestine  for  a  Mission  to  Israel ; 
and  now  that  we  had  visited  it,  our  convictions  were 
greatly  strengthened.  The  climate  of  Saphet  is  very 
delightful  even  in  the  heat  of  summer.  The  thermometer 
immediately  before  dawn  stood  at  58°  F. ;  at  8  o’clock, 
64°;  at  noon,  76°  in  the  shade.  The  mountain  air  is 
pure,  and  the  hills  are  finely  exposed  to  every  breeze 
that  sweeps  by.  A  Mission  established  in  Galilee  would 
have  this  great  advantage,  that  the  head-quarters  might 
be  at  Saphet  in  summer,  where  the  cool  atmosphere 
would  enable  the  missionary  to  labour  without  injury  to 
health,  and  at  Tiberias  in  winter,  where  the  cold  is 
scarcely  felt.  There  is  no  missionary  at  present  resident 
in  either.  The  missionaries  at  Jerusalem  visit  both  places 
occasionally,  but  by  no  means  frequently.  The  Jews  of 
Saphet  have  intimate  communication  with  those  of  Jeru¬ 
salem,  and  of  the  coast,  so  that  all  the  motions  of  our 
English  brethren  at  Jerusalem,  and  even  our  movements 
as  we  travelled  through  the  land,  were  well  known  to 
them.  They  are  also  quite  accessible  to  the  efforts  of  a 
kind  and  judicious  missionary,  though  many  of  them 
were  shy  of  us  because  they  had  been  warned  from  an 
influential  quarter  to  have  no  dealings  with  us.  Still  the 
Sephardim  were  quite  willing  to  hear;  and  all  were 
friendly.  In  the  village,  where  no  external  influence  had 
been  used,  they  were  kind  and  attentive.  They  here 
have  little  or  no  employment,  and  have  therefore  abun¬ 
dant  leisure  to  read  and  discuss.  They  are  also  in  deep 
affliction,  “  finding  no  ease,  neither  has  the  sole  of  their 
foot  rest,”  a  state  of  mind  more  favourable  than  carnal 
ease  for  affording  opportunity  to  press  upon  them  the 
truths  of  the  gospel. 

If  it  were  thought  advisable  to  engage  converts  in  ag¬ 
ricultural  pursuits,  it  would  be  much  more  easily  accom¬ 
plished  here  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  land.  They 
might  settle  in  a  village  among  the  mountains,  and 
till  the  ground,  or  train  the  vine,  like  the  Jews  at 


DEPARTURE  FROM  SAPHET. 


285 


Bukeah  of  whom  we  heard.  The  Jews  both  of  Saphet 
and  Tiberias  are  most  interesting,  from  the  very  circum¬ 
stance  of  their  extravagant  devotion  and  bigotry.  They 
have  a  peculiar  love  for  these  two  places,  being  two  of 
their  four  holy  cities,  and  many  of  their  saints  being 
buried  near.  They  say  that  Jeremiah  hid  the  ark  some¬ 
where  in  the  hill  of  Saphet,  and  that  Messiah  will  come 
first  in  Galilee.  This  notion  is  probably  derived  from 
Isaiah,  “Galilee  of  the  nations,  the  people  that  walked  in 
darkness  have  seen  a  great  light.”*  That  remarkable 
prophecy  was  fulfilled  when  our  Lord  Jesus,  the  great 
light  of  the  world,  came  and  dwelt  beside  the  lake  of 
Galilee  ;f  and  who  can  tell  w~hether  He  may  not  choose 
the  same  favoured  spot  to  make  light  spring  up  again  on 
them  who  sit  in  the  region  and  shadow  of  death  I  If  the 
Spirit  of  God  were  poured  down  upon  Saphet,  it  would 
become  a  city  that  might  shine  over  the  whole  Jewish 
world.  “  A  city  set  on  a  hill  cannot  be  hid.”  Such  were 
our  feelings  upon  the  spot  in  1839.  The  blast  of  war  has 
passed  over  the  country  since  then,  and  the  reins  of  go¬ 
vernment  of  Syria  have  been  wrenched  from  the  hand  of 
Mehemet  Ali,  and  transferred  to  the  feeble  grasp  of  the 
Sultan.  At  present  (1842),  the  country  is  said  to  be  so 
unsettled,  that  no  missionary  would  be  safe  in  Saphet  or 
any  where  in  the  interior  of  Galilee.  But  if  tranquillity 
was  restored,  the  desirableness  of  the  place  as  a  mission¬ 
ary  station  would  be  as  great  as  ever. 

(July  15.)  We  were  up  before  the  sun,  and,  by  six 
o’clock  took  leave  of  our  Jewish  host  and  his  family. 
Many  Jews  saluted  us  as  we  passed  through  the  town. 
We  proceeded  south,  with  the  Lake  of  Galilee  fully  in 
view,  and  descended  into  a  deep  valley,  with  a  remark¬ 
able  range  of  high  and  precipitous  rocks,  composed  of 
reddish  sandstone,  on  the  left  hand.  In  the  bottom  was 
a  fresh  stream  of  running  water,  issuing  from  a  copious 
well,  the  oleander  blossoming  all  around.  The  name  of 
the  valley  was  called  Wady  Hukkok.  It  may  be  the 
spot  mentioned  in  Joshua,  “  The  border  of  Naphtali 
went  out  to  Hukkok,  and  reached  to  Zebulun  on  the 
south  side.”|  The  name  has  evidently  been  given  in  re¬ 
ference  to  its  steep  precipitous  sides.§  It  seems  probable 
that  the  border  of  Naphtali  ended  at  this  point. || 

*  Isa.  ix.  1,  2.  t  Matt.  iv.  13.  X  Josfc.  xix.  34. 

$  The  root  “  ppti”  signifies  to  cut  or  engrave. 

II  The  difficult  prophecy  in  regard  to  Naphtali’s  portion  in  Deut. 

26* 


286 


JOTAPATA* — PLAIN  OF  GENNESARETH. 


Descending  still  further  south,  we  observed  on  the  right 
a  singular  rock,  of  considerable  height,  in  which  were 
many  caverns,  and  one  part  of  which  seemed  to  indicate 
excavations  made  by  art,  capable  of  containing  a  large 
number  of  men.  We  did  not  ascertain  the  name  of  this 
place,  but  afterwards  conjectured  that  it  might  be  the  site 
of  Jotapata ,  the  city  of  Josephus,  for  it  answers  well  to 
the  description  of  that  fortress  given  by  him.*  “  Jotapata 
is  almost  wholly  a  precipice,  abruptly  enclosed  all  round 
on  the  other  sides  with  immense  valleys,  whose  depth 
wearies  the  eye  of  the  beholder,  and  affording  an  access 
only  on  its  northern  side.”  The  caves  of  Arbela  (sup¬ 
posed  to  be  the  Betharbel  of  Hoseaf),  in  the  valley  of 
Doves,  south-west  of  the  plain  of  Gennesareth,  appear, 
from  the  description  of  travellers,  to  be  very  similar. 

Leaving  this  spot  on  our  left,  we  crossed  over  a  plea¬ 
sant  hill  to  the  south-east,  and  came  down  into  the  fer¬ 
tile  Plain  of  Gennesareth,  near  a  fountain  called  “  Ain-el- 
Tin,”  “the  fig-tree  fountain,”  supposed  by  some  to  be 
“  the  fountain  of  Capernaum”  mentioned  by  Josephus. 
We  did  not  search  out  the  ruins  of  the  city,  but  there 
were  pointed  out  to  us  heaps  among  the  luxuriant  bushes 
of  the  plain,  which  some  have  thought  to  be  the  remains 
of  Capernaum.  The  land  of  Gennesareth  is  a  beautiful 
little  plain,  extending  along  the  shore  nearly  four  miles, 
and  about  two  miles  from  the  lake  to  the  foot  of  the  hills 
at  the  broadest  part.  It  is  in  the  shape  of  a  bow  and 
string  at  full  stretch,  and  there  is  a  gentle  slope  from  the 
hills  to  the  water’s  edge  all  round.  It  seems  highly  pro¬ 
bable  that  part  of  the  hills  which  enclose  it,  may  have 
been  included  in  the  territory  of  Gennesareth  in  the  days 
of  its  splendour.  Gardens  and  orchards  could  not  find 
a  better  soil  than  these  declivities,  and  it  must  have  been 
on  the  different  steps  of  this  amphitheatre,  that  the  variety 
of  trees  yielding  the  fruits  of  different  seasons  found  each 
its  appropriate  climate,  as  described  by  Josephus. 


xxxiii.  23,  should  probably  be  translated,  “  Possess  thou  the  sea  (d') 
and  the  south”  The  term “ south”  is  intended  to  fix  the  meaning  of 
* the  sea;”  q.  d.  not  the  Great  Sea  or  Mediterranean,  but  the  sea  that 
lies  south  of  thy  border;  that  is,  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  Capernaum,  Beth- 
saida,  and  other  fishing  towns,  belonged  to  Naphtali,  so  that  his  ves¬ 
sels  commanded  the  whole  lake,  or,  in  other  words,  “ possessed  it.” 
Just  as,  in  Gen.  xlix.  13,  the  border  of  Zebulun  is  said  to  “be  unto 
Zidon because  he  might  be  said  to  extend  to  that  point  when  his 
vessels  were  trading  thither. 

*  Wars,  iii.  7. 


t  Hos.  x.  14. 


287 


PLAIN  OF  GENNESARETH. 

Moving  on  southward  we  crossed  a  fine  stream  flowing 
through  the  plain,  the  same  which  we  had  seen  gushing 
from  its  fountain  among  the  hills  below  Saphet.  Its 
banks  were  adorned  with  the  oleander  and  other  flow¬ 
ers.  A  fine  flock  of  goats  were  watering  here,  and  a 
rich  crop  of  dhura  was  springing  green  and  beautiful. 
The  reeds  and  thistles  were  growing  to  an  amazing 
height  beside  the  water.  Soon  after,  we  crossed  another 
stream  from  the  mountains,  full  and  rapid.  On  the  left 
bank  upon  the  height,  there  were  the  remains  of  an  an¬ 
cient  tower,  in  no  way  interesting,  and  the  name  of 
which  we  could  not  learn.  In  the  middle  of  the  stream 
stood  a  ruined  mill.  Many  tortoises  were  seen  dropping 
into  the  water  as  we  approached.  The  plain  opens  out 
considerably,  affording  spots  of  pasturage,  where  we 
observed  several  Bedouins  feeding  their  horses;  but  still 
there  was  a  vast  profusion  of  reeds  and  shrubs,  and  thorny 
plants,  the  most  common  being  the  tree  called  nabbok  by 
the  Arabs.  In  almost  an  hour  from  Ain-el-Tin  we  came 
to  Mijdel,  at  the  southern  extremity  of  the  plain. 

Such  is  the  present  condition  of  the  Land  of  Gennesa- 
reth, — once  a  garden  of  princes,  now  a  wilderness.  We 
have  seen  that  the  remains  of  Capernaum,  which  is  called 
the  Saviour’s  “  own  city”  *  are  scarcely  to  be  found  ;  and 
the  traces  of  Chorazin  and  Bethsaida  are  still  more  doubt¬ 
ful.  There  seems  every  probability  that  they  were  also 
within  the  limits  of  this  little  plain,  but  where,  no  one 
can  tell,  f  The  solemn  “  wo”  pronounced  by  the  Lord 
Jesus  on  these  three  cities,  in  whose  streets  He  so  often 
spoke  the  words  of  eternal  life,  has  fallen  with  silent  but 
exterminating  power.  It  is  more  tolerable  for  Tyre  and 
Sidon  than  for  them.  “  And  thou,  Capernaum,  which 
wast  exalted  to  heaven,  art  brought  down  to  hell.”|  He 
took  out  his  believing  remnant  from  the  midst  of  them  (as 
he  took  Lot  out  of  Sodom),  Peter,  Andrew,  and  Philip, 
three  worthies  from  Bethsaida, — and  three  from  Caper- 


*  Matt.  ix.  1. 

t  It  seems  evident  that  there  were  two  towns  called  Bethsaida,  on 
opposite  sides  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  One  was  the  town  of  Philip,  An¬ 
drew,  and  Peter,  (John  i.  44),  associated  with  Chorazin  and  Capernaum 
(Matt.  xi.  20 — 24),  and  belonging  to  the  land  of  Gennesareth  (Mark  vi. 
45,  53).  This  town  was  clearly  on  the  west  side  of  the  sea.  The  other 
is  associated  with  the  towns  of  Cesarea  Philippi  (Mark  viii.  13, 22,  27), 
and  with  the  desert  place  where  Christ  fed  the  five  thousand  (Luke  ix. 
10\  It  was  on  the  east  side  of  Jordan,  probably  an  hou  north  of  the 
lake,  where  the  mins  of  a  town  on  a  hill  still  remain, 
t  Matt.  xi.  20—  24. 


288 


CAPERNAUM — CHORAZIN — BETHSAIDA. 


naum,  the  nobleman,  the  centurion,  and  Jairus ;  and  then 
swept  the  unbelieving  cities  away  with  the  besom  of  de¬ 
struction.  An  awful  voice  rises  from  these  ruined  heaps 
of  Gennesareth,  warning  the  cities  of  our  favoured  land 
that  a  despised  Gospel  will  bring  them  as  low  as  Caper¬ 
naum;  “He  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned.” 

It  was  in  Capernaum  that  Jesus  healed  so  many  upon 
one  Saturday  evening,  when  the  Jewish  Sabbath  was 
over,  and  the  cooling  breeze  of  sunset  was  favourable  to 
the  journey  of  the  sick.*  W e  could  imagine  them  coming, 
some  up  the  side  of  the  lake,  others  from  its  northern 
towns,  or  down  the  valley  of  Doves  from  the  interior  of 
Galilee,  till  all  meet  in  this  very  plain,  where  they  hear 
that  Jesus  is  in  the  city,  and  forthwith  pour  in  to  find  him. 
He  receives  them,  heals  many  that  were  sick  of  divers 
diseases,  and  casts  out  many  devils ;  for  “  he  did  most  of 
his  mighty  works  ”  there.  And  being  left  alone,  “  he  rose 
a  great  while  before  day,  and  went  out  and  departed 
into  a  solitary  place,”  wandering  up  the  valley  of  Doves 
on  the  west,  or  the  deep  ravines  of  Saphet  on  the  north, 
and  there  prayed  till  Simon  Peter  and  a  multitude  of 
anxious  souls  found  him  out  among  the  rocks,  and  said 
unto  him,  “  All  men  seek  for  thee.”  f 

We  found  the  small  village  of  Mijdel  quite  deserted. 
We  had  already  met  in  the  village  several  poor  plundered 
peasants  on  their  way  to  Saphet,  with  all  that  remained 
of  their  property.  We  examined  at  leisure  their  wretched 
mud-huts;  the  habitation  of  man  and  beast  seemed  to 
have  been  not  only  under  one  roof,  but  sometimes  in  the 
same  apartment,  separated  merely  by  a  slender  partition. 
Their  little  gardens  were  full  of  cusas  and  cucumbers,  and 
other  thriving  vegetables.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  this  vil¬ 
lage  occupies  the  site  of  Migdal-el ,  mentioned  by  Joshua 
as  one  of  the  towns  of  Naphtali  ;J  and  is  also  generally 
believed  to  be  the  site  of  the  Magdala  of  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment, §  the  town  from  which  Mary  Magdalene  got  her 
name.  But  this  latter  supposition  is  doubtful,  for  there 
seems  to  have  been  another  place  of  the  same  name  on 
the  eastern  side ;  and  the  name  which  signifies  “  a 
tower,”  was  not  an  uncommon  one  in  Palestine.  We 
sat  down  to  rest  under  a  shady  nabbok-tree,  and  then 
wandered  to  the  edge  of  the  lake  through  oleanders  and 
reeds.  Many  curious  insects  people  the  leaves  of  these 

*  Mark  i.  32—35. 

t  Josh.  xix.  38. 


t  Mark  i.  37. 

$  Matt.  xv.  39. 


VILLAGE  OF  MIJDEL — TIBERIAS — LAKE  OF  GALILEE.  ‘289 

shrubs ;  one  species  especially  abounded,  shaped  like  a 
frog,  and  green  as  the  leaves  on  which  they  sat.  We 
washed  our  hands  and  faces  in  the  soft  water,  and  gath¬ 
ered  many  shells  from  the  beach  as  memorials  of  the 
spot. 

From  this  point  of  view  is  to  be  seen  the  whole  of  the 
upper  margin  of  the  lake,  which  appears  like  a  semi¬ 
circle.  We  could  easily  trace  the  point  where  the  Jor¬ 
dan  enters,  by  the  opening  of  the  hills.  The  eastern 
mountains  in  the  region  of  Bashan  appeared  still  more 
steep  and  lofty.  The  ridge  of  Hermon  on  the  north, 
sprinkled  with  snow,  formed  the  grandest  object  in  sight. 
There  were  deep  serenity  and  calm,  and  a  bright  sun 
playing  upon  the  waters.  How  often  Jesus  looked  on 
this  scene,  and  walked  by  the  side  of  this  lake!  We 
could  feel  the  reason  why,  when  harassed  and  vexed  by 
the  persecution  of  enemies,  “Jesus  withdrew  himself 
with  his  disciples  to  the  sea  ”*  The  rabbins  spoke  more 
truth  than  they  intended,  when  they  said,  “God  loved 
that  sea  beyond  all  other  seas  !” 

From  Mijdel,  the  margin  of  the  lake  takes  a  turn  to  the 
south-east,  and  as  the  hills  approach  close  to  the  shore, 
the  pathway  is  often  a  considerable  height  above  the 
water.  Sometimes  a  wady  descends  from  the  hills,  and 
the  shore  forms  a  gently  sloping  cove,  with  a  pebbly 
beach,  and  then,  again,  becomes  abrupt.  It  was  proba¬ 
bly  on  one  of  these  pebbly  spots  that  Jesus  was  walking, 
when  the  people  gathered  round  him,  till  the  pressure  of 
eager  listeners  was  so  great,  that  he  had  to  enter  into  a 
ship,  from  which  he  spoke  the  parable  of  the  sower,  “  and 
the  whole  multitude  stood  on  the  shore.”!  And  perhaps 
it  was  during  a  solitary  walk  round  some  of  these  retired 
coves,  that  he  came  on  James  and  John,  with  their  father 
and  servants,  mending  their  nets  by  the  shore.! 

The  largest  of  these  open  spaces  running  up  toward 
the  hills  was  cultivated,  and  seemed  very  fruitful,  and 
we  noticed  on  the  shore  a  large  circular  well,  en¬ 
closed  by  walls  that  were  much  dilapidated.  The  path¬ 
way  ascends  the  promontory  beyond  this,  and  now 
the  south  part  of  the  lake  came  fully  in  view,  with  the 
dark  walls  and  towers  of  Tiberias  at  our  feet.  The  hills 
of  Bashan  on  the  opposite  side  appeared  a  steep  unbroken 
wall,  descending  into  the  lake,  and  giving  a  shade  of 


*  Mark  iii.  7. 


t  Matt.  xiii.  1,  2. 


1  Mark  i.  19. 


290  TIBERIAS — ASHKENAZIM  SYNAGOGUE. 

deeper  blue  to  the  waters  beneath.  We  could  not  dis¬ 
tinguish  a  single  tree  on  the  opposite  hills,  and  on  this 
side  very  few.  We  passed  a  single  fig-tree,  the  only 
fruit-tree  we  saw  till  we  came  in  sight  of  the  few  palms 
that  adorn  Tiberias.  In  approaching  Tiberias,  the  eye 
rests  on  the  ruins  of  towers  and  walls;  and  as  the 
greater  part  of  the  stones  are  black  like  lava,  the  place 
wears  a  dismal  and  melancholy  appearance.  The  wall, 
which  nearly  surrounds  the  town,  has  been  at  one 
time  massy  and  solid;  but  the  town  and  much  of  its 
walls  was  ruined  by  the  same  earthquake  which  over¬ 
whelmed  Saphet,  and  has  never  been  properly  rebuilt. 
They  call  the  town  Taberiah,  by  a  corruption  of  its  an¬ 
cient  name. 

We  intended  to  take  up  our  quarters  in  the  old 
church  of  St.  Peter,  a  relic  of  the  earliest  ages  of  Christi¬ 
anity,  but  soon  found  that  we  could  enjoy  more  cleanli¬ 
ness  and  coolness  by  pitching  our  tent  between  it  and 
the  lake,  our  cords  almost  dipping  in  the  water.  In 
passing  through  the  town,  our  compassion  was  excited 
by  observing  the  wretched  booths  in  which  most  of  the 
people  live.  Many  of  them  were  nothing  better  than 
boughs  of  trees  plastered  over  with  mud,  and  their  com¬ 
mon  fuel  was  the  dung  of  horses  and  cattle,  such  as  we 
had  seen  used  in  Saphet. 

We  walked  over  several  ruined  arches  in  our  way 
to  the  Jewish  quarter.  Here  we  came  first  among  the 
Ashkenazim,  Germans  and  Russians,  with  their  black 
broad-brimmed  hats,  or  large  fur-caps,  and  soiled  black 
Polish  gowns,  of  all  dresses  the  most  unsuitable  for 
such  a  climate.  .  .  .  Tiberias  (as  mentioned  before)  is 
one  of  the  four  cities  which  the  Jews  account  peculiarly 
holy.  In  it  are  three  synagogues  of  the  Ashkenazim 
and  two  of  the  Sephardim,  besides  several  reading- 
rooms  —  very  clean  and  airy  buildings,  especially  those 
of  the  Sephardim.  The  first  synagogue  which  we  en¬ 
tered  was  one  belonging  to  the  Ashkenazim,  in  which 
were  seated  three  old  men,  with  beards  white  as  snow, 
one  nearly  deaf,  and  all  nearly  blind,  yet  poring  over 
volumes  of  the  Talmud.  It  was  truly  a  sight  fitted  to 
move  in  us  the  feelings  of  our  Lord,  when  in  Galilee 
he  saw  the  multitude  “as  sheep  without  a  shepherd.” 
No  sooner  did  we  begin  to  speak  with  them,  than  they 
were  warned  by  a  young  Jew  pressing  his  finger  on  their 
arm,  and  they  were  immediately  silent.  They  seem¬ 
ed  lost  in  studying  the  Hebrew  page,  and  soon  one  and 


SEPHARDIM  SYNAGOGUE. 


291 


another  rose  and  left  the  place.  The  veil  is  upon  their 
hearts,  while  they  are  at  the  very  brink  of  eternity !  This 
synagogue  was  cool  and  pleasant,  with  a  good  many 
Hebrew  books  in  it.  In  another  synagogue,  we  found  a 
good  number  of  younger  Jews  sitting,  who  at  first  had 
some  freedom  in  conversing,  but,  being  also  warned, 
turned  more  shy.  When  we  were  here,  a  respectable 
Jew  named  Haiim  came  in,  and  suddenly  recognised  Mr. 
Caiman.  He  was  an  amiable,  intelligent  man,  possessed 
of  a  little  money,  and  practising  as  a  physician.  On  a 
former  visit,  Mr.  C.  and  Mr.  Nicolayson  had  met  with 
much  kindness  from  him,  and  had  left  with  him  a  He¬ 
brew  New  Testament.  When  he  recognised  Mr.  Cai¬ 
man,  he  started,  and  did  not  speak  very  freely,  for  a  rea¬ 
son  which  he  afterwards  explained.  But  before  leaving 
us,  he  quietly  invited  us  to  come  to  his  house,  which  we 
promised  to  do. 

We  then  visited  a  synagogue  of  the  Sephardim,  from 
whom  we  experienced  a  much  kinder  reception.  We 
found  an  old  Jew  seated  on  the  ground,  with  twenty 
children,  whom  he  was  teaching  to  read  Lamentations 
i,  with  proper  intonation  of  voice.  Several  Jews  gather¬ 
ed  round  us,  and  with  them  we  had  an  interesting  dis¬ 
cussion  for  about  an  hour.  It  began  by  the  teacher  put¬ 
ting  questions  to  us  as  to  our  knowledge  of  Hebrew. 
He  and  Mr.  Caiman  carried  on  the  conversation  in  Ara¬ 
bic.  Meanwhile,  the  Jewish  boys  gathered  round  Mr. 
Bonar,  and  read  part  of  Lamentations  i,  translating  it 
into  Arabic  as  they  went  on.  They  also  amused  them¬ 
selves  by  putting  many  questions  to  him  in  Hebrew.  A 
group  of  young  men  stood  with  Mr.  M‘Cheyne  at  the 
door.  He  spoke  to  them  regarding  Israel’s  ignorance  of 
the  fountain  of  forgiveness,  as  proved  from  Zech.  xiii.  1. 
They  soon  brought  two  of  their  rabbis,  really  venerable- 
looking  men,  and  asked  them  to  answer  the  questions 
that  had  been  put.  The  rabbis  were  very  friendly,  but 
not  liking  the  discussion  soon  went  away. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  court,  they  conducted  us 
to  one  of  the  best  of  their  Yishvioth,  divided  into  three 
apartments,  in  which  was  a  large  collection  of  Hebrew 
books.  It  was  pleasant  to  look  out  upon  the  blue  waters 
of  the  lake  immediately  under  the  windows.  They  told 
us  that  there  were  at  that  time  only  600  Jews  in  Tibe¬ 
rias,  owing  to  the  calamitous  state  of  the  country.  Like 
those  of  Saphet  they  are  in  daily  terror  on  account  of 


292  TIBERIAS— JEWISH  PHYSICIAN,  IIAIIM. 

the  Bedouins.  We  made  special  inquiry  after  any  traces 
of  the  ancient  Jewish  Academy,  where  the  compilers  of 
the  Mishna  and  Gemara  carried  on  their  labours — the 
once  famous  seat  of  the  School  of  Tiberias — but  in  vain. 
We  inquired  if  there  were  remains  of  any  ancient  build¬ 
ing  connected  with  it,  but  no  one  knew  of  any  thing  of 
the  kind,  nor  did  any  of  the  Jews  appear  to  be  acquaint¬ 
ed  with  its  history.  After  leaving  the  synagogue,  we 
found  under  an  arch  of  the  ruined  buildings  a  parch¬ 
ment  roll,  being  a  MS.  of  part  of  the  book  of  Esther,  cast 
out  amidst  many  fragments  of  other  books  because  of 
some  error  in  the  transcription. 

We  now  visited  the  Jewish  physician,  Haiim,  who 
had  recognised  Mr.  Caiman  in  the  synagogue.  We 
were  guided  to  his  house  by  a  little  Jewish  girl  who 
spoke  German.  As  we  went,  we  asked  her  about  her 
parents ;  she  replied,  “  They  were  both  buried  in  the 
ruins  by  the  earthquake.”  How  truly  might  she  be 
taken  as  representative  of  a  large  class  in  Israel,  of 
whom  the  prophet  writes,  “  We  are  orphans  and  father¬ 
less!"*  We  found  the  doctor’s  house  very  clean  and 
comfortable.  He  told  us  that  he  had  not  spoken  to  us 
in  the  synagogue,  because  he  was  very  much  suspected 
by  his  brethren.  Some  time  ago,  during  his  absence 
from  home,  some  of  the  Jews  had  discovered  the  He¬ 
brew  New  Testament  lying  in  his  house,  and,  on  his 
return,  he  found  them  in  the  act  of  tearing  it  to  pieces, 
leaf  by  leaf.  He  showed  it  to  us;  it  was  a  Hebrew 
Bible  with  the  New  Testament  affixed.  He  had  saved 
part  of  it,  but  as  far  as  the  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians 
had  been  destroyed.  He  was  a  kind  pleasant  man,  with 
great  leanings  toward  Christianity. 

In  the  evening,  while  walking  along  the  shore,  we  saw 
a  boat  anchored  close  by ;  and  on  making  inquiry,  found 
that  it  belonged  to  a  Jew,  who  had  likewise  another  of 
a  smaller  size,  both  of  which  were  used  in  fishing ;  and 
being  told  that  on  the  coast,  directly  opposite,  where  the 
hills  seemed  very  steep  and  close  upon  the  water,  there 
were  many  tombs  cut  out  of  the  rocks,  our  desire  was 
excited  more  than  ever  to  cross  the  lake.  We  were  sure 
that  the  opposite  side  was  “the  country  of  the  Gadar- 
enes,  which  is  over  against  Galilee and  from  a  com¬ 
parison  of  all  the  circumstances,  it  seemed  likely 
that  the  scene  of  the  amazing  miracle  wrought  upon  the 


*  Lam.  v.  3. 


LAKE  OF  GALILEE— -FISHERMAN — STORMS.  293 

man  possessed  by  Legion  was  directly  opposite,  the 
steep  place  of  which  they  spoke  being  possibly  the  hill 
down  which  the  herd  of  swine  ran  violently  into  the  sea. 
W e  accordingly  bargained  with  the  boatman  to  take  us 
over,  which  he  thought  he  could  do,  with  the  aid  of  the 
breeze,  in  an  hour.  We  got  on  board,  furnished  with 
our  cloaks  and  a  few  mats,  in  case  the  wind  should  fall 
and  prevent  us  from  returning  that  night ;  but  all  of  a 
sudden,  without  assigning  any  reason,  except  that  the 
wind  might  change,  and  that  then  we  could  not  get  back 
till  morning,  the  boatman  refused  to  go,  so  that  we  were 
obliged  reluctantly  to  give  up  the  pleasure  of  crossing 
the  Sea  of  Galilee.  Soon  after  we  saw  him  move  his 
boat  down  the  lake. 

We  returned  to  our  tent  upon  the  pebbly  beach.  Our 
servants  had  procured  for  us  some  excellent  fish  from  the 
lake,  resembling  the  carp,  which  they  broiled,  and  we  re¬ 
called  to  mind,  as  we  partook  of  it,  that  this  was  the 
scene  of  John  xxi.  It  may  have  been  here,  or  not  far  off, 
that  Jesus  stood  on  the  shore  that  morning,  when  he  said 
to  the  disciples,  “Children,  have  ye  any  meat  V’  and  then 
prepared  for  them  the  “  fire  of  coals,  and  fish  laid  thereon, 
and  bread,”  saying,  “  Come  and  dine.”  And  on  the  same 
spot  he  left  the  touching  message,  first  addressed  to 
Peter,  but  equally  addressed  to  all  who,  like  ourselves, 
are  shepherds  of  a  flock  of  Christ,  “  Lovest  thou  me  1 
Feed  my  Lambs — Feed  my  sheep.”  We  all  felt  the  deep 
solemnity  of  the  strain  in  which  one  of  our  number  as 
he  sat  on  the  shore,  concluded  a  song  of  Zion — 

O  Saviour,  gone  to  God’s  rmht  hand, 

Yet  the  same  Saviour  still! 

Graved  on  thy  heart  is  this  lovely  strand, 

And  every  fragrant  hill. 

Oh !  give  me,  Lord,  by  this  sacred  wave, 

Threefold  thy  love  divine, 

That  I  may  feed,  till  I  find  my  grave, 

Thy  flock — both  thine  and  mine. 

While  we  were  thus  engaged,  Dr.  Haiim  came  to  the 
tent.  He  had  waited,  till  it  was  dark  for  fear  of  the  Jews. 
Mr.  Caiman  had  much  conversation  with  him.  On  our 
asking  him  regarding  the  lake,  if  there  were  ever  storms 
upon  it,  he  said,  “  Yes ;  and,  in  winter,  the  storms  are 
worse  than  those  of  the  Great  Sea.”  This  quite  corres- 

27 


294 


LAKE  OF  GALILEE — FISHERMAN. 


ponds  with  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Hebard,  one  of  the 
American  missionaries  at  Beyrout,  who  visited  the  lake 
in  April ;  and  who  told  us  that  he  and  his  party  had  en¬ 
camped  at  evening  close  by  the  lake,  when  at  midnight, 
all  at  once,  a  squall  came  down  upon  the  lake,  so  terrible 
that  they  had  to  hold  by  their  tent-poles  for  safety.  Such, 
no  doubt,  was  the  tempest  that  came  down,  when  the 
little  ship  in  which  the  Saviour  and  his  disciples  sailed 
“  was  covered  with  the  waves *  and  it  is  not  then  to 
be  wondered  at  that  the  disciples  were  so  alarmed,  and 
cried,  “  Lord,  save  us,  we  perish for  such  a  squall  com¬ 
ing  in  fury  from  the  hills  is  more  dangerous  than  the 
storms  of  the  great  Mediterranean  Sea. 

The  thermometer  was  91°  F.  during  the  day,  and  76° 
during  the  night.  All  night  long  innumerable  fish  and 
wild  fowl  were  dimpling  the  waters ;  and  the  beautiful 
moon  shone  above  as  in  one  of  those  silent  nights  when 
it  was 

“  Left  shining  in  the  world,  with  Christ  alone.” 

Some  of  us  awoke  at  midnight,  and  for  a  short  time  sat 
by  the  edge  of  the  lake.  The  darkness  had  completely 
enveloped  the  waters,  and  now  the  Saviour’s  midnight 
prayers  on  these  neighbouring  heights  and  shores,  seem¬ 
ed  a  present  reality ;  and  the  remembrance  of  the  time, 
when  “  in  the  fourth  watch  of  the  night,  Jesus  went  unto 
the  disciples  walking  on  the  sea,”  spread  an  indescribable 
interest  over  the  sleeping  waters.  No  place  excepting 
Jerusalem  is  so  deeply  and  solemnly  impressive  as  the 
Sea  of  Galilee. 

(July  16.)  Early  in  the  morning  we  bathed  with  de¬ 
light  in  the  pure  water  of  the  lake,  and  observed  a  pecu¬ 
liar  pleasantness  and  softness  in  the  water, — resembling 
that  of  the  Nile.  While  we  were  thus  employed,  a  fisher¬ 
man  passed  by  with  a  hand-net,  which  he  cast  into  the 
sea.  The  net  was  exactly  the  net  called  in  the  Gospel 
of  Matthew  dixfi6\r,arpov^  the  same  kind  of  net  which  we 
had  seen  used  at  Lake  Bourlos  in  Egypt.J  The  simple 
fisnerman  little  knew  the  feelings  he  had  kindled  in  our 
bosoms  as  he  passed  by  our  tent,  for  we  could  not  look 
upon  his  net,  his  bare  limbs,  and  brawny  arms,  without 
reflecting  that  it  was  to  two  such  men  that  Jesus  once 
said  by  this  sea,  “  Follow  me,  and  I  will  make  you  fishers 
of  men.” 

We  then  resolved  to  ride  down  to  the  baths,  about  two 
*  Matt.  viii.  24.  t  Matt.  iv.  18.  t  See  p.  63. 


HOT  BATHS  OF  TIBERIAS. 


295 


miles  south  of  Tiberias,  and  if  possible,  to  get  a  nearer 
view  of  the  foot  of  the  lake.  As  we  passed  through  the 
town,  we  observed  some  of  the  inhabitants  rising  from 
their  beds,  which  had  been  spread  on  the  top  of  the 
house, — like  Saul,  when  Samuel  called  him  on  the  top  of 
his  house  at  Ramah .*  The  Jews  were  met  in  their  syna¬ 
gogue  for  morning  worship ;  and  one  unusual  sight  was 
three  women  sitting  under  a  verandah  with  large  folios 
before  them,  apparently  prayer-books.  Several  of  the 
children  whom  we  had  spoken  with  yesterday  recognised 
and  saluted  us.  Might  not  an  opening  be  found  into  the 
bosom  of  Jewish  families  by  shewing  kindness  to  their 
children  1 

We  made  our  way  over  the  southern  wall  of  the  town, 
through  one  of  the  breaches  occasioned  by  the  earth¬ 
quake.  On  the  outside,  the  country  people  were  already 
busily  engaged  in  threshing  and  winnowing  their  wheat 
harvest.  We  rode  smartly  along  the  smooth  edge  of  the 
lake  for  about  two  miles,  till  we  arrived  at  the  “  Ham- 
mam  Taberiah,”  or  “hot  baths  of  Tiberias,”  a  white 
building  which  we  had  seen  from  Saphet.  It  is  supposed 
to  occupy  the  site  of  a  fenced  city  called  “ Hammath ,” 
mentioned  by  Joshua,!  and  which  stood  near  the  town 
Cinnereth,  that  gave  its  name  to  the  lake.  An  attendant 
came  forward  and  held  our  horses,  while  we  were  ush¬ 
ered  into  a  commodious  apartment.  The  building,  which 
was  erected  by  Ibraim  Pasha,  is  handsome,  the  floors 
being  all  of  marble.  The  bath  is  open  to  the  public  gra¬ 
tuitously,  only  the  bathers  pay  the  attendants,  who  fur¬ 
nish  them  with  every  thing  needful.  There  are  small 
baths  of  white  marble  in  private  apartments,  and  the 
common  bath  is  in  the  centre — a  large  circular  basin  built 
of  marble,  and  continually  supplied  with  hot  water  from 
hot  springs  without.  We  found  it  about  five  feet  deep, 
and  it  was  with  difficulty  that  we  could  at  first  bear 
the  heat  of  the  water.  After  swimming  round  and  round 
for  some  time,  it  became  exceedingly  pleasant,  and  every 
pore  of  the  body  seemed  to  be  freely  opened.  We  after¬ 
wards  enjoyed  the  luxury  of  free  and  copious  perspira¬ 
tion  as  we  sat  in  the  ante-room,  and  were  refreshed  with 
water-melons  and  coffee.  We  examined  two  of  the 
principal  springs,  from  which  the  water  boils  up  so  hot 
that  we  could  not  keep  our  hand  in  it  more  than  a  se¬ 
cond.  Between  the  springs  and  the  lake  are  many  curi¬ 
ous  petrifactions.  The  stump  and  roots  of  some  old 

t  Josh.  xix.  35 


*  1  Sam.  ix.  26. 


296  DEPARTURE  FROM  TIBERIAS — PLAIN  OF  HUTTIN. 

olive-trees,  over  which  the  water  from  the  spring  flows, 
were  completely  petrified. 

We  were  anxious  to  obtain  a  view  from  the  last  pro¬ 
montory  on  this  side  of  the  lake,  and  accordingly  rode 
a  little  farther  south  along  the  shore,  finding  the  banks 
fringed  with  beautiful  oleanders  and  reeds,  among  which 
one  solitary  palm  raised  its  head.  Two  deep  ravines  in 
the  mountains  on  the  opposite  side  were  from  this  point 
distinctly  visible,  but  we  obtained  no  fuller  view  of  the 
southern  end  of  the  lake.  We  would  gladly  have  gone 
farther  down  and  explored  the  remains  of  Tarichaea,  and 
the  place  where  the  lake  discharges  its  waters  into  the 
Jordan;  but  a  long  day’s  journey  lay  before  us,  so  we 
turned  back  to  the  town,  struck  our  tent,  and  about  ele¬ 
ven  o’clock  issued  from  the  gate  of  Tiberias.  Two  Ger¬ 
man  Jews  shook  hands  kindly  with  us  at  the  gate. 

It  was  with  real  regret  that  we  bade  farewell  to  the 
blessed  shores  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  Our  course  lay  due 
west,  up  the  steep  hills  which  enclose  the  little  plain  on 
which  Tiberias  stands;  and  as  we  turned  back  to  gaze 
on  this  sea,  it  lay  at  our  feet  serene  and  bright,  reflecting 
the  deep  blue  sky  as  peacefully  as  on  that  day  when 
Jesus  staled  its  waves,  “  and  there  was  a  great  calm.” 
The  rocks  over  which  we  travelled  were  black  and  of 
volcanic  origin.  Reaching  the  summit  of  the  hill,  the 
beautiful  plain  of  Huttin  lay  on  a  lower  level  -on  our 
right  hand,  extending  to  the  brink  of  the  hills  which  en¬ 
close  the  lower  plain  of  Gennesareth.  On  our  left  was  a 
still  higher  plain,  nearly  all  cultivated,  and  chequered 
with  fields  of  green  and  yellow.  The  plain  of  Huttin 
was  also  variegated  with  wild  flowers  and  occasional 
patches  of  cultivation,  giving  it  the  appearance  of  an  ex¬ 
tensive  carpet.  Here  we  saw  the  gazelle  bounding  on 
before  us,  over  shrubs  and  rocks  and  every  obstacle,  and 
felt  the  exquisite  fulness  of  meaning  in  the  Church’s  ex¬ 
clamation,  “  Behold,  he  cometh  leaping  upon  the  moun¬ 
tains,  skipping  upon  the  hills !  My  beloved  is  like  a 
gazelle  or  a  young  hart.”  *  It  is  the  very  nature  of  this 
lively  animal  to  bound  over  the  roughest  heights  with 
greatest  ease ;  it  seems  even  to  delight  in  doing  so. 

Looking  back,  we  obtained  a  distant  view  of  the  north¬ 
ern  part  of  the  lake,  from  which  we  were  gradually  re¬ 
ceding;  the  white  summit  of  snowy  Hermon  appeared 
more  majestic  than  ever,  and  Saphet  with  its  white  build- 


*  Song  ii.  8,  9. 


MOUNT  OF  BEATITUDES — -VILLAGE  OF  LUBIAH.  297 


ings  could  not  be  hid.  Our  way  lay  through  large  fields 
of  splendid  thistles,  having  purple  flowers,  and  very  fra¬ 
grant.  The  stalk  was  often  six  or  eight  feet  high,  bear¬ 
ing  twelve  or  fifteen  heads.  Again  we  were  reminded 
of  the  oft-recurring  threatening,  “  There  shall  come  up 
briers  and  thorns.”  *  But  there  is  a  different  day  ap¬ 
proaching  of  which  the  same  prophet  writes,  “The 
nations  shall  rush  like  the  rushing  of  many  waters ;  but 
God  shall  rebuke  them,  and  they  shall  flee  far  off,  and 
shall  be  chased  as  the  chaff  of  the  mountains  before  the 
iv bid,  and  like  thistle-down  before  the  whirlwind.”  f  At 
the  very  moment,  on  a  neighbouring  height  before  us,  a 
husbandman  was  tossing  up  his  wheat  into  the  air,  that 
the  brisk  mountain  breeze  might  carry  the  chaff  away ; 
and  often  by  our  side,  the  wind  caught  up  some  of  the 
loose  thistle-down  and  whirled  it  rapidly  over  the  plain. 
With  the  same  ease  and  rapidity  shall  Israel’s  enemies 
be  swept  away :  “  Behold,  at  even-tide  trouble,  and  be¬ 
fore  the  morning  he  is  not !  This  is  the  portion  of  them 
that  spoil  us,  and  the  lot  of  them  that  rob  us.”  In  a  short 
time  we  came  in  sight  of  Mount  Tabor,  called  by  the 
Arabs  Jebel  Tor,  in  the  distant  south,  while  near  us,  on 
our  right,  appeared  the  Horns  of  Huttin,  a  rocky  hill 
with  two  conical  tops.  The  latter  is  the  hill  called  by 
tradition  “  the  Mount  of  Beatitudes,”  being  supposed  to 
be  the  scene  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  for  which  rea¬ 
son  it  is  also  sometimes  called  the  hill  of  Toubat  or  Bles¬ 
sings.  Another  tradition  supposes  it  to  be  the  place 
where  Jesus  fed  the  five  thousand  with  five  barley  loaves 
and  two  fishes.!  It  is  not  impossible  that  one  or  both 
these  traditions  may  be  true;  but  there  is  no  positive 
evidence  of  their  truth,  and  it  seems  too  probable  that 
they  arose  from  the  hill  being  so  prominently  marked  by 
two  peaks.  Turning  to  the  south,  we  soon  came  to  a 
village  called  Lubiah,  situated  high  on  a  limestone  ridge, 
commanding  a  full  view  of  Tabor.  Here  we  encamped 
till  the  heat  of  the  day  was  past.  The  village  is  large, 
and  surrounded  with  the  fig-tree  and  prickly  pear,  which 
gives  it  an  aspect  of  plenty  and  pleasantness.  Most  of 
the  houses  have  a  place  for  sleeping  on  the  roof,  as  at 
Tiberias,  and  we  observed  here  one  of  the  most  interest¬ 
ing  examples  of  the  stair  from  the  roof  down  to  the 
street.  $  From  Lubiah  we  descended  into  the  valley  of 

*  Isa.  v.  6.  +  Isa.  xvii.  18.  See  margin. 

t  John  vi.  3—14.  $  Referred  to  in  Matt.  xxiv.  17. 

27* 


298 


PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON — MOUNT  TABOR. 


Jezreel,  now  the  plain  of  Esdraelon ;  and  having  directed 
Antonio  and  the  muleteers  to  carry  our  luggage  to  the 
village  Dabourieh  at  the  western  foot  of  Tabor,  accom¬ 
panied  by  Botros  only  we  rode  smartly  forward  over  the 
plain,  intending  to  climb  Mount  Tabor  before  sunset. 

The  plain  (extending  about  thirty  miles  in  length,  and 
twenty  in  breadth)  is  singularly  level,  cultivated  in  some 
spots,  but  for  the  most  part  a  wilderness  of  weeds  and 
thorns.  There  is  the  appearance  indeed  of  varied  pro¬ 
duce  upon  it,  but  this  is  caused  merely  by  the  different 
colours  of  the  thistles  and  briers  which  cover  it.  It  is 
reckoned  that  not  more  than  one-sixteenth  of  the  whole 
is  undei  cultivation ;  and  at  this  part,  the  proportion  is 
certainly  still  smaller.  How  strikingly  are  the  words  of 
Isaiah  fulfilled,  “  They  shall  lament  for  the  teats,  and  for 
the  pleasant  fields.”  *  The  eye  is  much  deceived  in 
judging  of  distances  over  this  vast  plain.  From  the 
heights  of  Lubiah,  it  appeared  to  us  that  we  might  reach 
Tabor  in  less  than  an  hour,  and  yet  it  occupied  fully  two 
hours,  though  we  rode  nearly  at  full  speed.  The  weeds 
were  often  as  high  as  our  horses,  and  scarcely  a  tree 
was  to  be. seen  on  the  plain  till  we  approached  Tabor. 

Tabor  is  a  truly  graceful  mountain,  but  presents  a 
very  different  appearance  when  viewed  from  different 
sides.  This  accounts  for  the  great  diversity  in  the  re¬ 
presentations  given  of  it.  From  the  north,  it  had  the 
appearance  of  the  segment  of  a  sphere,  and  appeared 
beautifully  wooded  on  the  summit,  affording  retreats  to 
the  animals  for  whom  “  the  net  was  spread  on  Tabor.”f 
From  the  west,  it  is  like  a  truncated  cone,  appearing 
much  steeper  and  higher,  with  the  southern  side  almost 
destitute  oftrees.  But  on  all  sides  it  is  a  marked  and 
prominent  object,  as  the  prophet  intimates  when  he  says, 
“As  Tabor  is  among  the  mountains.”};  We  passed 
through  several  flocks  of  goats,  and  near  the  hill  came  to 
a  ruined  khan,  and  beside  it  a  fortress,  with  towers  at 
the  corners,  which  bore  marks  of  having  been  built  by 
the  Franks  in  crusading  times.  Close  by  was  the  tomb 
of  a  Moslem  saint  under  a  fine  spreading  tree,  with  a 
jug  of  water  upon  the  grave,  according  to  the  practice 
of  Mahometans,  The  lower  branches  of  the  tree  were 
covered  with  votive  rags  of  different  colours. 

We  stopped  a  little  to  examine  a  plough,  which  lay 


Isa.  xxxii.  12.  See  p.  119. 


1  Hos.  v.  1, 


1  Jer.  xlvi.  18. 


A  PLOUGH — ASCENT  TO  MOUNT  TABOR.  299 

thrown  aside  under  a  tree.  It  was  made  entirely  of 
wood,  the  coulter  only  being  sheathed  in  a  very  thin 
plate  of  iron,  and  was  therefore  exceedingly  light,  and 
fit  to  be  guided  by  a  single  hand.  We  at  once  saw  how 
easy  a  matter  it  would  be  literally  to  fulfil  the  words  of 
the  prophets,  “  They  shall  beat  their  swords  into  plough¬ 
shares.”  *  The  approach  to  Tabor  is  through  a  wide 
and  shallow  wady,  regularly  wooded  with  fine  oak  trees, 
so  that  it  was  more  like  the  entrance  to  a  nobleman’s 
policy  than  an  open  wilderness.  The  Balut  and  the  com¬ 
mon  oak  were  the  most  frequent.  Tabor  itself,  and  the 
low  ridge  which  connects  it  with  the  hills  of  Nazareth, 
were  both  covered  with  the  same ;  not  brushwood,  as  on 
the  hills  of  Judah,  but  trees,  and  these  growing  at  regular 
distances,  as  if  planted  by  the  hand  of  the  forester. 

We  had  ascertained  that  the  village  Dabourieh,  to 
which  our  baggage  was  to  be  carried,  lay  west  of  the 
hill,  close  under  its  base,  and  we  ought  to  have  gone  to 
that  village  for  a  guide,  or  at  least  we  should  have  as¬ 
cended  the  hill  by  the  plain  path  on  that  side  of  the  hill, 
as  is  usually  done.  But  the  day  was  far  spent,  and  we 
had  no  time  to  lose,  so  we  resolved  to  press  up  the 
northern  face  of  the  hill  from  the  point  where  we  were. 
Leaving  the  road,  and  penetrating  by  a  narrow  footpath 
through  a  beautiful  grove  of  oaks,  we  crossed  to  the  pro¬ 
per  base  of  the  hill,  and  began  the  real  ascent.  We  soon 
lost  all  traces  of  a  path,  and  were  involved  in  mazes  of 
tangling  shrubs  and  briers,  and  strong  trees.  The  ac 
clivity,  too,  was  very  steep,  and  occasionally  a  project¬ 
ing  rock  or  a  smooth  precipitous  ledge  nearly  baffled  the 
efforts  of  the  mules  to  ascend.  At  length  we  dismounted, 
the  closely  twined  branches  of  the  trees  frequently  forcing 
us  first  to  thrust  through  our  own  persons  and  then  to 
drag  on  the  animals.  Anxious  to  reach  the  summit  be¬ 
fore  sunset,  and  now  not  a  little  perplexed  and  wearied, 
we  again  sought  for  the  smallest  track, — but  in  vain. 
We  had  no  alternative,  therefore,  but  to  press  upwards 
without  delay.  Our  attendant  Botros,  whose  clothes 
as  well  as  our  own  had  by  this  time  suffered  consider¬ 
ably  from  the  trees  and  thorns,  finding  it  no  common 
labour  both  to  ascend  in  face  of  such  obstacles,  and  also 
to  drag  up  the  mules,  kept  muttering  angry  curses  on 
us  in  his  own  language.  At  one  time  we  had  almost 


*  Mic.  iv.  3,  and  Isa.  ii.  4. 


300 


VIEW  FROM  MOUNT  TABOR. 


concluded  that  we  must  make  up  our  minds  to  spend 
the  night  where  we  were,  on  the  wooded  mountain  side, 
and  surrounded  by  its  wild  beasts,  for  we  appeared  to  be 
still  far  from  the  summit.  The  sun  was  beginningto  sink 
in  the  west,  and  to  retrace  our  way  to  the  foot  through 
the  same  intricate  passage,  would  have  been  as  difficult 
as  to  ascend.  However,  we  asked  guidance  of  Him 
who  keepeth  Israel,  and  pressed  on.  Suddenly  and 
much  sooner  than  we  expected,  we  came  upon  ancient 
stones,  which  were  evidently  the  remains  of  some  build¬ 
ing.  By  this  sign  we  knew  that  we  must  be  now  close 
to  the  summit,  which  to  our  great  joy  turned  out  to  be 
the  case.  The  sun  had  just  disappeared,  but  we  had 
still  light  enough  to  see  the  chief  points  of  the  magnificent 
landscape.  We  climbed  up  upon  the  ruins  of  the  old 
fortifications  on  the  south-east  corner,  which  appeared 
to  be  the  highest  point  on  the  summit,  and  looked  around. 
To  the  north  and  north-east  we  saw  the  plain  over  which 
we  had  travelled,  the  heights  of  Huttin,  and  the  deep 
basin  of  the  mountains  enclosing  the  Sea  of  Galilee. 
Other  travellers  have  seen  a  part  of  the  lake ;  this  we  did 
not  observe,  but  the  hills  of  Bashan,  steep  and  frowning, 
appeared  quite  at  hand.  To  the  west  and  south-west 
lay  the  largest  part  of  the  great  plain  of  Esdraelon, 
bounded  by  the  long  ridge  of  Carmel,  and  watered  by  the 
full  flowing  Kishon,  making  its  way  through  it  toward  the 
Mediterranean.  To  the  south,  and  immediately  in  front 
of  us,  was  the  graceful  range  of  Little  Hermon,  and  be¬ 
hind  it  the  summits  of  Mount  Gilboa.  Between  us  and 
Hermon  lay  stretched  that  arm  of  the  plain  of  Esdraelon 
which  encircles  Tabor,  beautifully  variegated  with  im¬ 
mense  fields  of  thistles  and  wild  flowers,  giving  the  whole 
plain  the  appearance  of  a  carpeted  floor.  How  great 
must  have  been  its  beauty  when  its  wide  open  surface 
was  adorned  with  thriving  villages  planted  amidst  fields 
of  waving  grain,  and  gardens  of  blossoming  fruit-trees, 
and  closed  in  by  the  fertile  hills  that  gird  its  horizon  !  At 
the  foot  of  Hermon,  Mr.  Caiman  pointed  out  to  us  Endor , 
where  Saul  went  to  consult  the  woman  who  had  a  familiar 
spirit  on  the  last  night  of  his  unhappy  career  ;*  and  a 
little  way  to  the  west  of  it  the  village  of  Nain,  still  mark¬ 
ing  the  spot  where  Jesus  raised  the  widow’s  son  to  life.f 
Tabor  is  about  a  thousand  feet  above  the  plain,  an- 


*  1  Sam.  xxviii. 


t  Luke  vii.  11. 


ASSOCIATIONS — DESCENT  FROM  MOUNT  TABOR.  30J 

swering  well  to  the  description  “  an  high  mountain  apart.” 
Its  level  top,  about  a  mile  in  circumference,  covered  with 
groups  of  fine  trees  and  brushwood,  affords  a  spot  of 
complete  retirement  in  the  very  midst  of  the  land.  If 
this  was  really  the  scene  of  the  Transfiguration,  there  is  a 
difficulty  arising  from  the  fact,  that  both  a  fortress  and  a 
village  once  stood  on  its  top,  though  otherwise  it  would 
not  be  easy  to  find  a  spot  in  this  world  more  suitable  for 
that  heavenly  transaction.  It  is  a  solemn  thing  to  feel 
that  you  are  treading  the  very  ground  on  which  holy 
beings  have  walked ;  and  here  we  believed  we  were  on 
ground  called  by  Peter  “  the  holy  mount,”  *  hallowed  by 
the  visit  of  Moses  and  Elias,  by  the  presence  of  the  trans¬ 
figured  Saviour  himself,  and  by  the  voice  of  God  the 
Father,  when  he  spake  from  the  excellent  glory,  “  This  is 
my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased ;  hear  ye 
him.”  Barak  assembled  his  10,000  men  on  this  hill,f  in 
company  with  Deborah ;  and  in  the  plain  at  its  foot,  not 
a  few  learned  men  have  supposed  that  the  armies  of  An¬ 
tichrist  (gathered  together  to  the  place  called  Armaged¬ 
don,!)  are  to  be  destroyed  by  the  Lamb  when  the  great 
day  of  his  wrath  is  come. 

We  would  gladly  have  lingered  long  upon  the  summit 
of  Tabor,  to  meditate  over  the  history  of  the  past  and  the 
future,  for  even  when  we  had  nothing  but  the  associa¬ 
tions  connected  with  it,  we  felt  it  “good  to  be  here.” 
The  darkness,  however,  was  rapidly  descending  and 
shutting  out  the  view,  so  that  our  stay  was  very  short. 
The  moon  rose,  and  by  her  light  our  servant  guided  us 
down  a  steep  and  rocky  footpath  on  the  south  side,  so 
that  we  were  able,  though  with  some  difficulty,  to  ride 
down  the  whole  way.  But  where  we  were  to  find  Da- 
bourieh  we  did  not  know.  On  reaching  the  foot  of  the 
hill,  six  or  eight  men  sprang  up  from  the  ground  on 
which  they  were  lying,  and  advanced  towards  us,  each 
carrying  a  large  club  in  his  hand.  We  were  somewhat 
alarmed,  but  were  soon  relieved  by  finding  out  that  they 
were  friendly  villagers  watching  their  heaps  of  corn  by 
night,  like  Boaz  in  the  history  of  Ruth.§  They  on  their 
part  imagined  that  we  were  plundering  Bedouins,  against 
whose  depredations  they  were  watching,  and  were  over¬ 
joyed  to  find  that  we  were  mere  harmless  travellers, 
it  was  only  now  that  we  began  to  learn  how  wonder- 


*  2  Pet.  i.  18. 
t  Rev.  xvi.  16 


t  Judg.  iv.  14. 

$  Ruth  iii.  2—7. 


302 


ESCAPE — VILLAGE  OF  DABOURIEH. 


fully  our  God  had  preserved  and  guided  us.  The  villa¬ 
gers  could  scarcely  believe  that  we  had  come  over  the 
mountain,  for  they  told  us  that  a  band  of  Arabs  were 
lurking  among  the  woods,  and  had  killed  several  per¬ 
sons  the  day  before.  We  knew  not  how  much  or  how 
little  to  believe,  but  it  was  evident  that  we  had  been 
saved  from  danger,  and  had  escaped  the  hands  of  the 
Bedouins,  simply  in  consequence  of  our  leaving  the  di¬ 
rect  road  and  climbing  a  part  of  the  hill  seldom  visited. 
The  darkness,  too,  which  prevented  our  making  a  com¬ 
plete  circuit  of  the  hill,  had  providentially  kept  us  from 
approaching  the  retreat  of  the  plunderers.  Two  of  the 
villagers  agreed  to  conduct  us  to  the  village  of  Dabou- 
rieh,  which  they  faithfully  performed  for  a  small  reward. 
There  we  found  our  servants  anxiously  looking  out  for 
us.  They  had  put  up  the  tent  and  set  a  light  within  it, 
that  we  might  see  the  white  curtains  from  a  distance ; 
but  both  they  and  the  villagers  had  begun  to  conclude 
that  we  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Arabs.  Perhaps 
never  before  had  we  felt  such  gratitude  for  a  deliverance 
as  we  did  that  evening,  when  seated  in  our  tents  in 
peace  and  comfort,  after  the  anxieties  and  alarms  of  the 
day.  Had  we  gone  round  by  Dabourieh  at  first,  to  ob¬ 
tain  a  guide,  we  would  then  have  heard  of  the  danger, 
but  now,  without  knowing  of  it,  we  had  been  permitted 
to  visit  the  summit  of  Tabor  in  peace.  We  could  see 
plainly  that  every  step  of  our  way  had  been  graciously 
overruled,  and  that  our  very  difficulties  and  vexations 
which  had  troubled  us  at  the  time,  were  made  the  means 
of  our  safety.  The  simple  villagers  of  Dabourieh  gather¬ 
ing  round  expressed  great  astonishment  at  our  escape. 
We  sang  praise  in  our  tents  with  a  full  heart,  in  the 
words  of  Psalm  cxxiv,  “  Had  not  the  Lord  been  on  our 
side,”  &c. 

(July  17.)  During  the  greater  part  of  the  night  the 
wolves  and  jackals  kept  up  a  loud  and  angry  howl, 
which  was  responded  to  by  the  bark  of  the  village  dogs. 
At  morning  the  clouds  were  hanging  beautifully  on  the 
top  of  Tabor  and  the  adjacent  hills,  and  the  sky  was  cov¬ 
ered  with  a  veil  of  fretted  clouds,  the  first  of  the  kind  we 
had  seen  in  Palestine.  It  was  easy  now  to  understand 
why  Tabor  had  been  so  often  made  a  place  of  rendez¬ 
vous  from  the  days  of  Barak  and  downward,*  the  hill 


*  Judg.  iv.  6. 


VILLAGES  OF  ENDOR  AND  NAIN— BEDOUINS.  303 

being  so  commodious  as  a  place  of  defence,  with  a  co¬ 
pious  supply  of  water  on  the  very  summit,  even  when 
the  enemy  spread  themselves  on  the  plain  below. 

From  our  tent-door  we  saw  across  the  plain  the  villa¬ 
ges  of  Eiidor  and  Nain,  at  the  foot  of  Little  Hermon. 
Endor  lies  under  the  brow  of  the  hill,  and  Saul  would 
have  an  easy  road  from  it  to  the  fountain  of  Jezreel,  at 
the  foot  of  Gilboa,  where  his  army  were  encamped.* 
Nain  is  further  west,  and  appears  to  lie  still  closer  under 
Hermon.  We  observed  cultivated  fields,  and  verdure 
round  it ;  and  it  was  here  that  Mr.  Calhoun,  our  Ameri¬ 
can  friend,  whom  we  met  at  Alexandria,  found  many 
tombs  cut  out  of  the  rock,  one  of  which  may  have  been 
the  intended  sepulchre  of  the  young  man  whom  Jesus 
met  as  they  carried  him  out  dead,  and  restored  to  the 
weeping  widow.  Jesus  must  have  known  this  spot 
well,  for  he  would  often  pass  it  on  his  way  to  the  Lake 
of  Galilee.  No  place  in  all  this  land  furnishes  more  re¬ 
markable  illustrations  of  the  sovereignty  of  God  than  do 
these  two  villages.  At  Endor,  you  see  a  king  in  the  an¬ 
guish  of  despair,  consulting  with  a  diviner,  and  warned 
by  the  dead  that  the  Lord  had  departed  from  him  and 
become  his  enemy.  But  on  the  same  plain,  a  few  miles 
from  Endor,  a  thousand  years  after,  you  see  at  Nain, 
“  God  over  all  ”  coming  in  our  nature,  and  wiping  away 
the  tears  of  a  poor  widow. 

Over  the  western  shoulder  of  Hermon  lies  Solam,  the 
ancient  Shunem ,  and  farther  south,  near  Gilboa,  Zerin, 
the  ancient  Jezreel ;  but  these  we  did  not  see.  In  the 
village  of  Dabourieh  itself,  one  of  the  first  sights  that 
attracted  our  notice  was  a  group  of  Bedouins,  near  kins¬ 
men,  no  doubt,  of  the  very  robbers  who  had  been  ranging 
the  hill  and  keeping  the  neighbourhood  in  alarrp,  Yet 
here  they  were  sitting  at  their  ease  smoking  their  long 
pipes,  the  passing  villagers  giving  them  a  suspicious 
glance  that  indicated  no  good  will,  but  nobody  daring  to 
challenge  them.  Could  there  be  a  simpler  or  more  stri¬ 
king  illustration  of  the  prophecy  mentioned  before,  “  His 
hand  shall  be  against  every  man,  and  every  man’s  hand 
against  him;  yet  he  shall  dwell  in  the  presence  of  all  his 
brethren?”]  One  good-natured  Bedouin  approaching 
our  tent  permitted  us  to  sketch  him,  and  smiled  when 
lie  saw  his  own  likeness.  The  little  yellow  shawl  over 


*  1  Sam.  xxix.  1. 


t  Gen.  xvi.  12. 


304 


GROUP  OF  BEDOUINS 


the  head,  and  the  twisted  rope  of  camel’s  hair  that  binds 


it,  are  the  chief  peculiarities  of  their  dress.  Close  by  the 
village  of  Dabourieh  a  small  stream  flows  from  the  north 
to  join  the  Kishon.  They  called  it  by  the  same  name  as 
the  village.  This  name  may  possibly  be  derived  from 
Tabor,  at  the  foot  of  which  it  lies ;  others  conjecture  that 
Deborah’s  exploit  in  this  region,  when  she  accompanied 
Barak  to  the  hill,  may  have  given  name  to  the  town  and 
stream ;  but  still  more  probably,  it  is  the  same  as  the 
Levitical  city  Daberath,  which  belonged  to  the  tribe  of 
Issachar.* 


*  Josh.  xix.  12 ;  xxi.  28. 


NAZARETH — CONVENT. 


305 


We  left  our  encampment  about  nine  o’clock,  descend¬ 
ing  from  the  height  on  which  Dabourieh  stands,  and  tra¬ 
velling  in  a  north-west  direction.  We  soon  entered  a 
defile,  finely  wooded  with  oak-trees  and  brushwood, 
often  looking  back  to  admire  the  graceful  tapering  cone 
of  Mount  Tabor.  On  the  top  of  a  hill  to  the  right,  ap¬ 
peared  a  village,  Ain  Muhil.  Our  road  now  lay  over 
limestone  hills  of  a  much  barer  character,  until,  about 
two  hours  from  Tabor,  we  began  to  descend  the  slope 
that  leads  into  the  Vale  of  Nazareth. 

The  town  of  Nazareth  lies  on  the  west  side  of  the  val¬ 
ley,  on  the  acclivity  of  one  of  the  many  hills  that  meet 
here.  The  valley  has  sometimes  been  compared  to  a 
cup ;  and  the  hills  have  all  a  whitish  appearance  from 
the  limestone  of  which  they  are  composed.  There  are 
numerous  tracks,  worn  deep  in  the  calcareous  rocks, 
leading  from  the  town  in  different  directions,  to  neigh¬ 
bouring  villages  on  the  other  side  of  the  hill.  The  houses 
are  of  a  very  white  stone,  and  appeared  to  be  more  sub¬ 
stantial  and  regularly  built  than  those  of  other  towns  of 
Palestine.  The  buildings  of  the  Convent  are  massy,  and 
there  is  a  mosque  in  the  town,  adorned  with  cypress 
trees.  There  were  no  ruins  visible,  except  the  remains 
of  an  old  khan  near  the  entrance  of  the  town.  Fig-trees 
and  olives  abounded  in  the  gardens,  hedged  in  with 
prickly  pear.  The  women  at  the  well  also  appeared  to 
be  better  dressed,  and  in  more  comfortable  circumstances 
than  in  most  other  places  of  the  land ;  and,  on  the  whole, 
we  found  Nazareth  a  more  thriving  place  than  we  had 
anticipated.  We  put  up  our  horses  at  the  khan,  which 
is  one  of  the  best  specimens  we  met  with  of  the  Eastern 
inn.  The  Bazaar,  however,  was  poor,  having  no  great 
show  of  things  for  sale.  Cusas  and  cucumbers,  cloths 
and  red  shoes,  formed  the  staple  commodities.  A  great 
many  bony-featured  Bedouins,  with  the  rope  of  camel’s 
hair  round  their  head,  were  loitering  about  the  street. 

The  situation  of  Nazareth  is  very  retired,  and  it  is  said 
that,  on  account  of  this  seclusion,  the  worthless  charac¬ 
ters  of  Galilee  resorted  thither,  till  at  length  the  town 
became  a  proverb  for  wickedness.  In  this  town,  among 
such  a  race  of  men,  did  the  blessed  Jesus  live  thirty 
years,  in  calm  submission  to  his  Father’s  will,  obeying 
in  obscurity  for  us. 

We  visited  the  Convent,  and  saw  all  its  pretended 
wonders.  We  were  shown  the  chamber  of  the  Annun¬ 
ciation,  where  the  angel  Gabriel  saluted  Mary,  “  Hail, 

28 


o(J6  NAZARETH— MOUNT  OF  PRECIPITATION, 

thou  that  art  highly  favoured;”  also,  the  house  of  Joseph 
cut  out  of  the  rock,  and  the  pillar  curiously  (the  inhabi¬ 
tants  say  miraculously)  suspended  from  the  roof.  They 
wished  to  take  us  to  another  part  of  the  town,  to  see  the 
stone-table  from  which  Christ  dined  with  his  disciples 
both  before  and  after  his  resurrection— a  visit  which  pro¬ 
cures  seven  years’  indulgence  to  the  deluded  pilgrims  of 
the  Romish  Church ;  but  we  were  no  way  inclined  to  see 
more  of  their  follies,  and  grievously  offended  our  guide 
by  declining  to  go.  One  or  two  of  the  paintings  in  the 
convent  are  good,  especially  a  large  one  of  the  Annun¬ 
ciation,  but  it  has  the  painful  profanation  of  representing 
God  the  Father  as  an  old  man.  There  is  also  a  curious 
ancient  picture  of  Christ,  said  to  be  the  very  one  sent  by 
him  to  the  King  of  Edessa,  on  which  is  inscribed,  “  Hcec 
vera  imago  Domini ,”  &c. 

From  the  convent  garden  the  monks  pointed  out  to  us 
the  Mount  of  Precipitation,  regarded  by  them  as  the  hill 
from  which  the  angry  Nazarenes  wished  to  cast  the  Sa¬ 
viour  headlong,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  distant  from  the 
town.  This  is  a  tradition  which  disproves  itself,  being 
contrary  to  the  express  words  of  the  Gospel  narrative, 
“  They  rose  up,  and  thrust  him  out  of  the  city,  and  led 
him  unto  the  brow  of  the  hill  whereon  their  city  was  built , 
that  they  might  cast  him  down  headlong.”*  We  next 
visited  the  place  which  Dr.  Clarke  conjectured  to  be  the 
true  precipice,  immediately  above  the  small  church  of 
the  Maronites.  This  is  really  a  continuation  of  the  hill 
upon  which  the  town  is  built.  It  is  composed  of  lime¬ 
stone  rock,  forming  several  precipices,  so  that  a  person 
cast  down  from  above  would  without  doubt  have  more 
than  one  dangerous  fall.  We  had  no  hesitation,  when 
standing  there,  in  concluding  that  the  brow  of  that  hill 
was  the  very  spot  where  the  men  of  Nazareth  rejected 
the  Lord  of  glory. 

The  white  rocks  all  round  Nazareth  give  it  a  peculiar 
aspect.  It  appears  dry  and  tame,  and  this  effect  is  in¬ 
creased  by  the  trees  being  powdered  over  with  dust  dur¬ 
ing  the  summer  season.  The  heat  was  very  great,  and 
the  glare  from  the  rocks  painful  to  the  eyes.  There  is  a 
good  fountain  near  the  entrance  of  the  town,  called  the 
Fountain  of  the  Virgin,  because  it  is  said  that  Mary  and 
her  Son  were  in  the  habit  of  drawing  water  there. 


*  Luke  iv.  29. 


LEAVE  NAZARETH — CANA  OF  GALILEE.  307 

We  were  detained  in  this  town  longer  than  we  intend¬ 
ed,  by  the  abrupt  departure  of  the  muleteer  whom  we 
had  engaged  at  Saphet  to  accompany  us  to  Acre,  but 
who  had  set  off  to  join  a  caravan  that  was  collecting 
near  the  town,  and  bound  for  Damascus.  On  discover¬ 
ing  this,  we  went  to  the  Cadi  to  lay  our  complaint  be¬ 
fore  him,  and  found  several  people  waiting  at  the  door 
of  his  house,  who,  when  he  made  his  appearance,  kissed 
the  hem  of  his  garment — an  act,  like  the  kissing  of  the 
image  of  Baal,*  indicating  respect  and  reverence.  Per¬ 
haps  also  there  may  be  an  allusion  to  the  same  custom 
in  the  words,  “  Kiss  ye  the  son  lest  he  be  angry.”  f  The 
Cadi  could  do  nothing  for  us,  and  sent  us  to  the  Mute - 
selim ;  and  he  again  said  it  was  not  a  cause  to  be  laid  be¬ 
fore  him,  but  before  the  Sheikh!  By  this  time,  however, 
the  man  was  out  of  reach,  and  we  had  no  thought  of  re¬ 
maining  till  search  was  made  for  him.  We  therefore 
proceeded  on  our  journey  without  him. 

We  left  Nazareth  by  a  well-worn  track  leading  over 
the  rocky  hills  to  the  north-west,  passing  on  our  right  a 
village  called  Reineh.  Beyond  this  lies  Kefr  Kenna, 
generally  supposed  to  be  Cana  of  Galilee,  where  Jesus 
made  the  water  wine.j:  In  an  hour  and  a  half  we  reach¬ 
ed  Sephourieh,  the  ancient  Sepphoris.  The  name,  which 
means  “  a  bird,”  (in  Hebrew,  -nsx,)  seems  to  be  derived 
from  the  position  of  the  town;  the  town  being  on  an 
eminence,  like  a  bird  perched  on  a  hill-top.  Its  castle  is 
in  ruins,  but  still  occupies  the  summit  of  the  hill.  The 
village  is  small,  but  many  fragments  of  pillars  and  other 
ruins  lie  scattered  about.  Having  so  lately  visited  Tibe¬ 
rias,  lying  low  upon  the  edge  of  the  Lake  of  Galilee,  we 
could  now  see  the  force  of  the  saying  of  a  rabbi,  who 
wished  his  portion  to  be  with  those  who  began  the  Sab¬ 
bath  at  Tiberias,  and  ended  it  at  Sepphoris.”  The  sun 
lingers  of  course  longer  upon  the  hill  of  Sephourieh,  and 
makes  a  longer  day  than  is  enjoyed  in  low-lying  Tibe¬ 
rias.  Rabbi  Judah,  the  holy,  who  completed  the  Mishna, 
was  born  in  this  town. 

The  people  of  this  village  were  kind  and  affable.  Some 
of  them  offered  us  leban ,  of  which  we  gladly  sat  down 
in  a  court-yard  to  partake.  Beside  us  were  women  and 

*  1  Kings  xix.  18.  Hos.  xiii.  2.  f  Ps  ii.  12. 

t  The  researches  of  Robinson  go  far  to  prove,  that  the  true  site  of 
Cana  of  Galilee  is  not  Kefr  Kenna,  but  Kana  el  Jelil,  a  ruined  village 
three  hours  north  of  Nazareth.  The  latter  village  was  within  our  view 
after  leaving  Sephourieh,  but  we  did  not  take  notice  of  it. 


308  SEPHOURIEH— AGRICULTURAL  IMPLEMENTS. 

children  busily  employed  in  arranging  and  binding  the 
leaves  of  the  tobacco  plant  in  bundles.  A  large  thrash¬ 
ing-floor  was  also  near,  and  we  put  many  questions  to 
the  peasants  in  regard  to  their  farming  operations.  A 
flat  board,  which  is  drawn  over  the  corn  to  bruise  it,  is 
called  loah.  It  is  made  of  two  or  three  boards  firmly 


united,  and  the  bottom  is  spiked  with  stones  arranged 
at  regular  distances,  not  unlike  the  nails  in  a  ploughman’s 
shoe.  It  is  drawn  by  two  horses  or  oxen,  a  boy  sitting 
upon  it,  and  driving  them  round  and  round.  This  in¬ 
strument  is  universally  used,  and  is  probably  “  the  thrash¬ 
ing  instrument”  mentioned  by  the  prophet.*  The  wood¬ 
en  fork  for  throwing  the  bruised  corn  up  in  the  air,  is 
called  midra,  and  the  flat,  hollow  wooden  shovel  next 
used  for  a  similar  purpose,  is  called  raha.  The  latter  is 
evidently  the  fan  of  the  New  Testament.  When  this 
implement  is  used,  the  wheat  falls  down  in  a  heap  on  the 
thrashing-floor,  while  the  chaff  is  carried  away  by  the 
wind,  and  forms  another  large  heap  at  a  little  distance. 
The  peasants  do  not  burn  it ;  they  give  it  to  their  cattle; 
but  it  is  so  perfectly  dry,  that,  were  it  set  on  fire,  it  would 
be  impossible  to  quench  it.  In  how  striking  a  manner 
do  these  simple  customs  illustrate  the  words  of  David, 


*  Isa,  xxviii.  27. 


PASS  OF  ABILENE — SURMISES  OF  DANGER. 


309 


“  The  ungodly  are  not  so,  but  are  like  the  chaff  which 
the  wind  driveth  away;”*  and  those  of  John  the  Baptist 
concerning  Jesus,  “  Whose  fan  is  in  his  hand,  and  he  will 
thoroughly  purge  his  floor,  and  gather  his  wheat  into 
the  garner :  but  he  will  burn  up  the  chaff  with  fire  un¬ 
quenchable.”! 

Leaving  Sephourieh,  we  proceeded  still  north-west,  and 
after  half  an  hour  of  a  rough  undulating  road,  entered 
upon  a  vast  plain,  stretching  far  to  the  north  and  east, 
bounded  by  gently  swelling  hills.  Here  and  there  we 
came  upon  fields  of  dhura,  but  by  far  the  greater  part 
was  covered  with  weeds  and  thistles.  The  ground  was 
very  hard,  so  that  although  there  seems  to  be  a  good 
deal  of  travelling  upon  this  road,  it  was  not  at  all  cut  up, 
but  smooth  and  good.  No  wheels  ever  pass  over  it.  Here 
we  missed  our  servant  Antonio,  and  found  that,  erro¬ 
neously  supposing  that  he  had  left  a  cloak  behind  at 
Sephourieh,  he  had  gone  back  without  our  knowledge 
to  recover  it.  Approaching  the  north-west  corner  of  the 
vast  plain,  where  the  hills  come  near  to  one  another,  and 
form  the  entrance  to  the  fine  pass  of  Abilene,  we  arrived 
at  a  well  and  a  ruined  khan,  where  we  halted  for  a  little 
time  to  wait  for  Antonio ;  but  as  he  did  not  appear,  we 
prepared  to  go  on  without  him.  Meanwhile  an  old  man 
came  up  to  the  well  riding  on  an  ass,  and  immediately 
warned  us  not  to  proceed  further,  for  there  were  eight 
armed  Bedouins  in  the  valley,  who  had  stopped  and 
threatened  him :  and  had  allowed  him  to  escape  only  be¬ 
cause  he  was  old,  and  his  ass  worth  nothing.  They 
were  lurking  for  the  very  purpose  of  waylaying  travel¬ 
lers  that  might  be  passing  on  to  Acre.  On  hearing  his 
account  we  were  considerably  alarmed,  and  hesitated 
what  to  do.  One  proposed  that  we  should  encamp  in 
the  old  khan,  and  proceed  under  cloud  of  night;  and 
another  that  we  should  cross  the  plain  to  a  village  in 
sight.  While  we  were  deliberating,  some  other  men 
came  up,  who  were  leading  camels  to  Sephourieh.  They 
had  met  nobody  in  the  valley,  and  conjectured  that  what 
the  old  man  took  for  Arabs  might  be  the  Pasha’s  soldiers. 
Our  muleteers,  who  were  much  afraid,  and  anxious  to 
turn  back,  said  that  these  men  wanted  us  to  be  taken, 
because  we  were  all  Christians.  At  length,  considering 
that  we  had  no  place  of  safety  in  w  hich  we  might  encamp, 
and  that  the  road  to  Acre  might  be  as  dangerous  on  the 

*  Ps  i.  4.  t  Matt,  iii  12. 

28* 


310  TALLEY  OF  ABILENE — COMPANY  OF  BEDOUINS, 


morrow  as  that  day,  we  decided  to  go  forward,  commit 
ting  ourselves  once  more  to  Him  who  keepeth  Israel,  and 
who  had  helped  us  hitherto.  Accordingly,  we  left  the 
well,  and  soon  entered  the  pleasant  valley  of  Zebulwn , 
now  called  Wady  Abilene,  connecting  the  plain  above 
described  with  the  plain  of  Acre.  Sometimes  the  valley 
was  broad  and  level,  like  a  small  plain,  well  cultivated, 
and  enclosed  with  steep  wooded  hills ;  sometimes  it  nar¬ 
rowed  almost  to  the  straitness  of  a  defile.  At  one  of 
these  narrow  passes  one  of  the  men  picked  up  a  stick 
which  we  recognised  as  belonging  to  Antonio.  This 
circumstance  excited  many  conjectures.  We  hoped 
that  he  had  in  some  way  got  safely  on  before  us;  although 
some  of  the  men  started  the  suspicion  that  he  must  have 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Arabs.  We  journeyed  on, 
and  about  sunset  met  with  a  company  of  Bedouins,  of  a 
dark  and  formidable  appearance,  but  not  armed.  They 
were  riding  on  asses,  and.  each  carried  a  massy  club  in 
his  hand.  They  looked  closely  at  us,  but  passed  quietly 
on,  returning  our  salutation.  Our  servants  supposed 
that,  when  they  saw  that  we  were  Franks,  they  had 
imagined  that  we  must  be  carrying  fire-arms.  To  us  it 
seemed  like  the  deliverance  of  Jehoshaphat,  when  “God 
moved  them  to  depart  from  him.”*  We  met  no  other 
travellers  during  the  rest  of  our  way.  The  valley  is 
long,  and  declines  very  gently  toward  the  west ;  the  hills 
on  either  side  are  often  finely  wooded,  sometimes  rocky 
and  picturesque.  The  road  is  one  of  the  best  in  Pales¬ 
tine,  and  was  no  doubt  much  frequented  in  ancient  days. 

Issuing  from  the  valley,  we  saw  with  the  last  rays  of 
evening,  high  upon  a  hill  on  our  left,  the  town  of  Abi¬ 
lene,  a  fine-looking  place.  There  is  little  doubt  that  this 
is  the  ancient  Zebulun ,  on  the  border  of  Asher, f  the 
modem  name  being  a  corruption  of  the  ancient.  Tra¬ 
vellers  who  have  visited  it,  have  found  there  the  remains 
of  arches  and  other  buildings.  We  only  saw  it  at  a 
distance  and  in  the  twilight.  Josephus  says,  that  on 
account  of  its  populousness  it  was  called  “  ZaPovXw  dvip&v”  t 
(q.  d.  well-manned ,  or  well-peopled,  Zabulon). 

Still  further  on  is  a  village  called  Chamforeh.  In  half 
an  hour  after,  we  left  the  road,  and  crossed  the  valley 
to  the  right,  to  a  small  hamlet  called  Fatria,  with  two 
other  villages,  Damoun  and  Ruesh,  on  the  right  hand 

*  2  Chron.  xviii.  31.  t  Josh.  xix.  27.  t  B.  J.  ii.  22. 


VIEW  OP  MOUNT  CARMEL— ACRE. 


811 


lower  down  the  slope.  We  encamped  by  full  moonlight, 
with  many  camels  and  flocks  all  sleeping  round. 

In  the  tent,  we  felt  again  called  to  peculiar  thankful¬ 
ness,  and  all  the  more  on  account  of  the  painful  uncer¬ 
tainty  of  our  minds  regarding  the  fate  of  poor  Antonio. 
There  seemed  great  force  in  the  words  of  the  Psalm, 
“  Keep  me,  O  Lord,  from  the  hands  of  the  wicked ;  pre¬ 
serve  me  from  the  man  of  violent  deeds.”  * 

(July  18.)  We  struck  our  tents  by  sunrise,  and  pressed 
on  toward  Acre,  now  in  sight.  From  the  height,  we  ob¬ 
tained  the  finest  view  of  the  whole  extent  of  Mount  Car¬ 
mel  which  we  had  yet  seen.  An  intervening  swell  hid 
the  riv er  Kishon,  but  the  fine  range  of  Carmel  stretching 
eight  miles  into  the  country,  rising  higher  as  it  recedes 
from  the  sea,  the  monastery  on  the  northern  point,  the 
white  walls  of  Khaifa  at  its  foot,  the  Bay  of  Acre  between 
us  and  it,  and  the  blue  Mediterranean  beyond,  were  all 
gleaming  in  the  morning  sun.  There  are  many  mounds 
of  earth  in  the  plain  of  Acre,  apparently  artificial,  cast 
up  probably  in  crusading  times,  and  used  in  war.  The 
plain  itself  is  said  to  be  eighteen  miles  in  length  and  six 
in  breadth,  beautiful  and  well  watered.  We  crossed  the 
dry  bed  of  a  stream,  which  flows  into  the  sea  a  little  way 
south  of  Acre.  This  is  the  ancient  Belus  or  Sihor-Lib- 
nafi,  that  is,  “  Sihor  of  the  white  promontory.”  The 
Palus  Cendovia  in  which  it  rises,  is  said  to  be  found  six 
miles  in  the  interior.  In  another  part  of  the  channel, 
nearer  the  sea,  we  found  the  water  flowing  in  it.  Before 
entering  Acre,  we  passed  through  a  large  encampment 
of  the  Pasha’s  troops.  The  tents  were  "all  arranged  in 
military  order,  but  the  men  seemed  to  be  under  little 
discipline. 

Entering  the  gate  of  Acre,  we  proceeded  through  the 
crowded  and  well-furnished  bazaar.  Every  where  sol¬ 
diers  were  parading  the  narrow  streets,  and  it  seemed 
to  be  the  most  lively  eastern  town  we  had  yet  visited. 
The  fortifications  of  Acre  appeared  to  us  by  no  means 
very  formidable,  although  there  were  many  strong  forts 
and  other  buildings.  No  doubt,  its  walls  and  towers 
must  have  been  much  stronger  in  former  days,  and  its 
remarkable  situation,  as  the  key  of  this  part  of  the  land, 
has  ever  made  it  a  post  defended  and  attacked  with  des¬ 
perate  obstinacy. 

We  were  conducted  to  the  Latin  Convent,  as  the  best 


*  CD'DDD  tf'N  Ps.  CXI.  4. 


312  LATIN  CONVENT— -MONKS— -ESCAPE  OF  ANTONIO. 

place  for  refreshment ;  and  as  we  had  hitherto  seen  al 
most  nothing  of  the  monks  of  Palestine,  we  were  not 
unwilling  for  once  to  pay  a  visit  to  their  secret  recesses. 
Our  visit  to  them  was  not  like  that  of  Paul  to  the  Chris¬ 
tians  of  Ptolemais,  when  he  “  saluted  the  brethren,  and 
abode  with  them  one  day.”  *  The  main  object  of  the 
visit,  on  either  side,  was  that  of  giving  and  receiving  a 
traveller’s  fare.  No  price  is  exacted,  but  the  visitor  is  ex¬ 
pected  to  leave  behind  an  adequate  remuneration  for  the 
provision  furnished.  The  monks  we  found  to  be  coarse 
men,  with  no  appearance  of  seriousness,  or  even  of  learn¬ 
ing.  The  news  of  the  day  seemed  to  form  the  whole  of 
their  conversation.  We  were  led  into  a  large  hall,  with  a 
plain  wooden  table  and  benches  round.  Here  half  a  dozen 
of  the  fraternity  sat  down  with  us,  while  two  of  them 
served.  One  repeated  a  Latin  grace  in  a  coarse  irreverent 
manner,  and  then  many  dishes  of  solid  food,  fowls,  meat, 
and  vegetables,  were  brought  in  on  a  large  board  and 
handed  round.  The  polite  invitation  to  take  our  place 
at  the  table  was,  “ Favorisca  noi  ”  (“  Do  us  the  favour  ”). 
After  dinner,  one  of  their  number  left  us  to  embark  in  a 
vessel  that  was  to  take  him  to  the  convent  on  Mount 
Carmel ;  the  rest  sat  with  us  a  while,  and  talked  over 
our  providential  escape  from  the  Bedouins. 

Meanwhile,  to  our  great  joy,  our  servant  Antonio  made 
his  appearance.  The  story  of  his  adventure  was  very 
much  what  we  had  suspected.  Having  gone  back  to 
Sephourieh  in  search  of  the  cloak,  and  not  finding  it,  he 
rode  quickly  after  us  in  order  to  regain  our  company. 
But  meeting  a  woman  on  the  road  of  whom  he  inquired 
the  way,  he  was  directed  to  a  route  different  from  that 
which  we  had  taken.  He  had  entered  the  valley  at  the 
very  time  when  we  were  waiting  for  him  at  the  old 
khan,  and  had  not  proceeded  far,  when  six  or  eight  Be¬ 
douin  Arabs,  fully  armed  and  mounted  on  horseback, 
rushed  out  upon  him.  They  demanded  who  he  was — 
what  he  was  doing  there — where  he  was  going — and 
where  his  company  were.  Antonio  forged  a  story  in 
reply,  saying,  that  he  was  servant  to  a  scribe,  who  had 
gone  on  before  with  a  company  of  twelve  men,  and 
would  be  out  of  their  reach.  The  Arabs  said  that  he 
must  come  with  them ;  and  immediately  with  their  long 
lances  pricked  his  horse  up  to  the  hills.  When  they 
had  got  him  out  of  sight  of  the  road,  they  tied  him  hand 


*  Acts  xxi,  7. 


ESCAPE  OF  ANTONIO — RESPONSIVE  SONG.  313 

and  foot  and  led  away  his  horse,  after  asking  such  ques¬ 
tions  as,  “  Can  it  stop  suddenly  in  the  midst  of  a  gallop  1” 
They  then  stripped  him  of  every  article  of  dress,  and  one 
brought  out  a  large  club  stuck  with  nails,  threatening  to 
beat  him  to  death ;  but  he  entreated  them  to  spare  him, 
crying  out,  that  he  had  given  them  every  thing,  and  that 
his  death  would  do  them  no  good.  At  length  they  left 
him  bound  in  this  state,  till  the  sun  went  down.  While 
all  this  was  going  on,  we  had  passed  in  the  valley  below  ; 
and  the  fact  of  their  attention  being  occupied  with  our 
poor  servant,  was  thus  in  the  hand  of  Providence  the 
means  of  our  preservation.  After  sunset  they  came  and 
loosed  him,  and  led  him  a  little  way  further  up  among 
the  hills,  that  he  might  not  soon  be  able  to  find  his  way 
to  the  public  road,  and  give  information  against  them. 
Then  bidding  him  find  his  way  home,  they  left  him.  The 
poor  lad,  in  a  state  of  nakedness,  sat  all  night  upon  a 
tree  to  escape  the  wild  beasts.  He  said  that  his  face  and 
upper  part  of  his  body  were  as  if  bathed  in  water,  the 
perspiration  pouring  down  in  streams  from  the  effects 
of  fear.  From  the  same  cause,  his  mouth  was  filled  with 
bile,  and  his  voice  almost  inaudible.  As  soon  as  the  light 
of  morning  dawned,  he  came  down  from  the  tree,  and 
found  out  the  road  to  Acre.  The  first  person  he  met 
was  the  Pasha’s  dromedary  post,  who  gave  him  a  small 
piece  of  clothing, — and  then  he  reached  a  village  where 
the  people  supplied  him  with  more.  After  this  he  made 
out  his  way  to  Acre,  and  sought  for  us  at  the  convent, 
where  he  found  us  to  his  unfeigned  joy  and  ours.  We 
could  not  but  perceive  the  special  providence  of  God  in 
our  escape,  and  again  we  had  reason  to  sing  as  at  Mount 
Tabor,  “  Our  soufis  escaped  as  a  bird  out  of  the  snare  of 
the  fowlers;  the  snare  is  broken  and  we  are  escaped.” 
Even  the  monks  seemed  to  acknowledge  the  hand  of  God 
in  it. 

At  night,  we  heard  Antonio  and  the  other  servants  of 
our  company,  singing  a  song  of  vengeance  on  the  robbers. 
It  was  in  the  style  of  those  songs  we  had  usually  heard 
from  Arabs,  a  single  voice  leading,  and  then  a  chorus 
responding,  with  clapping  of  hands.  It  was  to  this 
effect — 

Single  voice— “  The  curse  of  Allah  rest !” 

Chorus —  “  Upon  the  Bedouins.” 

Clapping  hands. 

Single  voice — “  The  sword  of  Allah  come !” 

Chorus —  “  Upon  the  Bedouins.” 

Clapping  hands. 


314  ACRE — VICE-CONSUL — AGA — SYNAGOGUE. 

In  style,  this  resembled  Psalm  cxxxvi,  though  in  senti 
ment  it  was  the  reverse  of  its  strain  of  thankful  love. 

We  visited  the  English  Vice-Consul,  Mr.  Finch,  an  in¬ 
telligent  Jew,  who  speaks  German,  Italian,  and  a  little 
English.  He  showed  us  every  attention,  and  when  we 
told  him  the  whole  matter,  his  remark  was,  “  that  surely 
we  were  upon  God’s  errand ;  otherwise  God  would  not 
so  protect  us.”  He  conducted  us  to  the  Governor,  or 
Aga,  a  mild,  placid  old  man,  with  an  immense  turban, 
and  long  beard,  seated  in  state  upon  a  carpet  in  one  cor¬ 
ner  of  his  chamber.  Taking  off  our  shoes  at  the  door,* 
we  sat  down  on  the  floor,  and  related  our  story,  Mr. 
Caiman  and  Antonio  being  the  narrators.  He  caused 
his  secretary  to  write  it  clown,  and  promised  to  send 
twenty  soldiers  to  the  Wady  Abilene  to  find  out  the  rob¬ 
bers.  Probably,  he  thought  no  more  of  the  matter  after 
we  had  left  him.  While  we  were  in  the  court,  a  poor 
man  came  in  to  complain  that  his  garden  had  been  plun¬ 
dered  by  the  Arabs.  The  days  are  not  come  when  “vio¬ 
lence  shall  no  more  be  heard  in  thy  land.”f 

We  were  anxious  to  visit  the  Jews  of  Acre.  Meeting 
one  in  the  bazaar,  we  invited  him  to  partake  with  us  of 
some  melons  with  which  we  were  refreshing  ourselves. 
He  consented,  and  three  others  soon  joined  us.  They 
then  led  us  to  their  synagogue,  a  very  humble  one,  with 
a  short  inscription  on  a  pane  of  glass  above  the  door. 
About  a  dozen  Jews  gathered  round,  one  of  whom  re¬ 
cognised  us,  having  seen  us  at’ Tyre.  They  said  that 
there  are  sixty  of  their  brethren  residing  here.  We  had 
some  interesting  conversation  with  three  young  men, 
one  of  whom  eagerly  read  a  chapter  in  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment,  though  his  companion  stood  by,  watching  us  very 
suspiciously,  and  apparently  uneasy  at  seeing  his  friend 
so  employed.  An  old  man  then  came  into  the  syna¬ 
gogue,  and  mounted  the  reading-desk.  He  placed  a  jar 
of  water  beside  him,  then  opened  his  prayer-book,  wash¬ 
ed  his  hands,  and  put  on  his  Tallith.  We  were  inform¬ 
ed  that  he  meant  to  spend  six  hours  in  prayer  that  day, 
and  the  jar  of  water  was  intended  to  keep  his  throat 
from  becoming  dry  during  his  exercise  of  bodily  devotion. 
How  remarkably  this  illustrates  the  words  of  Christ, 
“Wo  unto  you,  scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites!  for 
ye,  for  a  pretence,  make  long  prayer ;  therefore  ye  shall 
receive  the  greater  damnation.”! 

*  Perhaps  this  oriental  custom  is  derived  from  Exod.  iii  5l 

t  Isa.  lx.  18.  t  Matt,  xxiii.  14. 


PLAIN  OF  ACRE — VILLAGES — NAKOURA.  315 

The  same  afternoon  we  left  the  walls  of  Acre  behind 
us,  fittle  thinking  how  soon  they  would  be  laid  in  ruins. 
We  halted  for  a  time  at  an  aqueduct  on  the  north  of  the 
town,  which  is  evidently  an  ancient  work,  and  is  still 
used,  having  a  hundred  arches  entire.  Passing  a  small 
village  called  Ismerieh,  we  came  to  Mezra,  where  a  fine 
stream  from  the  hills  runs  into  the  sea,  and  where  is  a 
beautiful  garden  belonging  to  Ibraim  Pasha.  It  is  en¬ 
closed  by  a  row  of  tall  cypresses,  while  within  the  lemon 
and  other  fruit-trees  of  the  East  were  clothed  with  the 
richest  foliage,  and  fragrant  shrubs  and  richly  coloured 
flowers  diffused  their  delightful  odours.  Many  small 
villages  are  scattered  over  this  beautiful  plain.  On  the 
right,  a  little  off  the  road,  stand  Sheikh  Daud,  once  a 
Christian  village,  and  Zeitoun.  In  the  plain  where  is  the 
spring  of  water  by  which  the  aqueduct  is  supplied,  is  El 
Capri,  and  on  the  hill  Tersecha,  and  not  far  off  a  monu¬ 
mental  pillar,  Kulat  Jedin.  After  these  we  came  to  El 
Hamsin.  Still  further  north,  and  on  the  shore,  lay  Zeeb, 
three  hours  from  Acre.  It  is  the  ancient  Achzib.  It  has 
a  high  situation  near  the  sea,  and  is  surrounded  with 
palm-trees.  A  shepherd  in  the  neighbourhood  of  this 
place  was  playing  on  his  pipe  at  the  head  of  his  flock — a 
sweet  soothing  sound  in  the  stillness  of  evening,  and  all 
the  sweeter  because  so  rarely  heard  in  Palestine. 

After  one  hour  more  we  came  to  Boussa,  situated  in 
carse  ground,  and  bordered  with  trees.  Here  the  fertile 
plain  of  Acre  ends,  and  the  low  range  of  swelling  hills 
that  form  its  eastern  boundary  for  twelve  or  thirteen 
miles  run  out  into  the  sea,  forming  a  high  rocky  pro¬ 
montory.  Looking  back  from  the  height,  the  view  of 
the  plain,  enclosed  by  the  hills  on  the  one  hand  and  the 
sea  on  the  other,  was  rich  and  beautiful.  The  plain 
along  the  coast  south  from  Carmel,  the  plain  of  Tyre, 
and  the  plain  of  Acre,  are  all  very  like  each  other,  al¬ 
though  the  last  seems  to  be  the  most  fruitful. 

The  sun  went  down  behind  the  Mediterranean  Sea  as 
we  passed  a  small  ruined  fort  or  khan  on  the  highest 
point  of  Nakoura.  The  khan  of  Nakoura  is  nearly  an 
hour  further  north,  and  we  made  haste  to  reach  it  before 
dark.  The  graceful  gazelles  were  sporting  along  the 
shore,  and  bounding  on  the  rocky  heights  above  us. 
Sandys  mentions  that,  in  his  time,  leopards  and  boars 
used  to  come  down  from  the  brushwood  of  these  hills, 
but  we  neither  saw  nor  heard  of  any.  We  slept  that 
night  in  a  stubble-field  near  the  khan  of  Nakoura ;  and 


316  SHORE  OF  THE  MEDITERRANEAN — CAPE  BLANCO. 

early  next  morning  were  on  our  way,  journeying  north 
by  the  edge  of  the  sea.  The  shore  in  this  vicinity  is 
often  grand  and  picturesque,  the  white  rocks  being  worn 
into  curious  forms  by  the  incessant  dashing  of  the  waves ; 
and  in  addition  to  the  natural  beauty  of  the  scene,  the  as¬ 
sociations  of  the  past  invest  the  very  waters  with  a  pro¬ 
found  interest.  One  of  our  company  thus  expressed  the 
impressions  of  the  moment : — 

These  deep  blue  waters  lave  the  shore 
Of  Israel,  as  in  days  of  yore ! 

Though  Zion  like  a  field  is  ploughed, 

And  Salem  covered  with  a  cloud — 

Though  briers  and  thorns  are  tangled  o’er. 

Where  vine  and  olive  twined  before — 

Though  turbaned  Moslems  tread  the  gate, 

And  Judah  sits  most  desolate — 

Their  nets  o’er  Tyre  the  fishers  spread, 

And  Carmel’s  top  is  withered — 

Yet  still  these  waters  clasp  the  shore 
As  kindly  as  they  did  before ! 

Such  is  Thy  love  to  Judah’s  race, 

A  deep  unchanging  tide  of  grace. 

Though  scattered  now  at  Thy  command. 

They  pine  away  in  every  land, 

With  trembling  heart  and  failing  eyes— 

And  deep  the  veil  on  Israel  lies — 

Yet  still  Thy  word  thou  canst  not  break, 

“  Beloved  for  their  fathers’  sake.” 

In  a  short  time  we  came  to  a  well-built  and  copious 
fountain,  where  we  obtained  a  plentiful  draught  of  deli¬ 
cious  water.  It  had  a  pointed  arch  and  Arabic  inscrip¬ 
tion,  and  still  bears  the  name  of  the  great  conqueror  of 
Tyre,  “  Iscanderoon.”  Soon  after  leaving  it,  we  found 
ourselves  on  the  remains  of  an  ancient  causeway,  said 
to  be  the  work  of  Alexander  the  Great.  This  is  the 
“  Scalce  Tyriorum, ”  leading  over  a  high  rocky  promon¬ 
tory  of  limestone,  which  here  descends  precipitously  into 
the  sea,  the  Album  Promontorium  or  Cape  Blanco,  about 
eight  miles  from  Tyre.  The  steps  on  the  northern  side 
are  cut  out  of  the  rock  with  immense  labour,  and  a  solid 
parapet  is  left  along  the  margin,  over  which  we  looked 
into  the  clear  deep  waters  of  the  Mediterranean.  We 
saw  fish  swimming  about  in  great  numbers  at  the  base 
of  the  rocks,  and  over  our  heads  the  owl  perched  on  sol¬ 
itary  cliffs  as  in  the  days  of  the  Psalmist.*  From  this 


*  Ps.  cii.  6. 


OLD  TYRE — RAS-EL-AIN. 


317 


point  we  began  to  search  along  the  shore  with  deep 
interest  for  any  remains  of  ancient  Tyre.  About  half  an 
hour  from  Cape  Blanco,  we  came  upon  the  ruins  of  some 
ancient  place,  where  were  several  cisterns,  but  no  dis¬ 
tinct  remains.  These  were  the  only  traces  we  could  find 
of  any  thing  like  a  city  along  the  bay  south  of  Tyre. 

'Within  an  hour  of  Tyre,  we  turned  aside  from  the 
shore  to  the  right,  to  visit  the  famous  pools  said  to  have 
been  made  by  Solomon  for  Hiram,  King  of  Tyre.  The 
place  is  called  Ras-el-Ain,  or  “  Head  of  the  Fountain,” 
evidently  because  it  was  the  source  from  which  Tyre 
was  anciently  supplied  with  water.  It  is  about  three 
miles  from  the  gate  of  modern  Tyre.  There  are  four 
large  and  remarkable  reservoirs,  three  of  which  we  ex¬ 
amined.  They  are  considerably  elevated  above  the  plain 
by  means  of  solid  mason-work,  and  you  ascend  by  steps 
to  a  broad  border,  on  which  you  may  walk  round  the 
water.  The  fountains  springing  up  from  beneath  keep 
them  constantly  full.  Two  of  them  are  connected  with 
each  other;  the  one  measuring  17  yards  by  15  at  the 
water  edge,  the  other  13  yards  by  10.  The  third  is  a 
regular  octagon,  measuring  8^  yards  on  each  side. 
From  the  first  two  the  water  is  conveyed  by  a  fine  old 
aqueduct  to  the  rocky  hill  Marshuk,  and  from  thence 
anciently  to  Tyre ;  but  the  only  use  that  seems  to  be 
now  made  of  the  water  of  the  largest  one,  is  to  turn  a 
mill  for  grinding  corn.  The  work  is  beautifully  exe¬ 
cuted,  and  the  abundance  of  water  makes  every  thing 
around  look  verdant  and  beautiful,  so  that  we  lingered 
near  enjoying  the  pleasant  situation. 

While  we  were  refreshing  ourselves  with  bread  and 
leban,  a  man  from  Tyre  joined  our  party,  who  told  us 
that,  a  few  days  before,  a  number  of  Jews  from  Saphet 
had  come  to  take  refuge  in  the  town  till  the  disturbances 
of  the  country  should  pass  over.  So  truly  are  the  words 
of  Moses  stiil  undergoing  their  fulfilment,  “  Thou  shalt 
find  no  ease,  neither  shall  the  sole  of  thy  foot  have  rest.”* 

It  was  after  midday  when  we  set  out  again.  We  did 
not  enter  Tyre,  but  passed  at  a  distance,  nearly  in  the 
course  of  the  old  aqueduct.  We  came  near  the  hill  of 
Marshuk,  which  some  have  supposed  to  mark  the  site 
of  Palce  Tyrus ;  though  this  cannot  be  the  case,  for  Strabo 
says  that  it  lay  thirty  stadia  to  the  south  of  the  island, 
whereas  Marshuk  is  less  than  a  third  of  that  distance  to 


*  Dent,  xxviii.  65. 
29 


318 


TYRE  TO  SIDON — SAREPTA. 


the  east  of  modern  Tyre.  Crossing  the  plain,  we  soon 
came  upon  the  same  track  by  which  we  had  travelled  in 
a  contrary  direction  a  fortnight  before.  At  the  bridge 
of  Kasimieh,  we  were  refreshed  by  a  draught  of  goat’s 
milk  which  some  shepherds  gave  us.  An  hour  before  sun¬ 
set,  we  came  to  that  part  of  the  plain  overlooked  by  Sar- 
fend,  the  ancient  Sarepta.  Two  of  us  rode  up  the  steep 
hill  on  which  the  modern  village  is  built  by  a  path  worn 
deep  in  the  rock.  We  visited  the  mosque,  said  to  be 
erected  over  the  widow’s  house  where  Elijah  dwelt,  and 
the  cave  beneath  it,  where  a  lamp  is  kept  continually 
burning,  and  where  miraculous  cures  are  reported  to  have 
been  performed.  The  view  from  the  village  commands 
the  plain  and  the  sea,  and  is  very  fine.  A  deep  ravine  on 
the  south  is  clad  with  an  olive-grove,  and  the  hills  around 
bear  marks  of  having  been  at  one  time  covered  with  the 
vine,  for  the  terraces  still  remain.  We  passed  through  a 
village  on  the  shore  immediately  opposite  to  Sarfend, 
called  Ain-teen  (“  the  well  of  the  fig,  ”)  which  some  be¬ 
lieve  to  be  the  true  site  of  Sarepta. 

The  sun  being  set,  we  now  pressed  forward  toward 
Sidon.  The  gazelles  were  gamboling  on  the  rocky  shore. 
Seven  large  stones  stand  on  the  roadside,  of  which  a 
curious  legend  is  told.  It  is  said  that  these  are  seven 
Moslems  turned  into  stone  for  pursuing  a  Christian, 
whose  companions  were  guilty,  but  who  himself  was  in¬ 
nocent.  A  little  farther  on  is  a  cairn ,  or  heap  of  stones 
raised  over  the  tomb  of  a  slave,  who  was  executed  on 
this  spot  for  murdering  and  plundering  passengers.  It 
is  customary  for  travellers  to  add  a  stone  to  the  heap  as 
they  pass.  Arriving  at  a  khan  called  Ain-el-Burak,  the 
owner,  who  was  on  the  roof,  invited  us  in,*  but  we  thanked 
him  and  pressed  on.  The  near  approach  to  Sidon  seemed 
peculiarly  beautiful  in  the  soft  moonlight.  A  sweet  fra¬ 
grance  was  breathing  from  shrubs  and  flowers,  and  our 
road  conducted  us  through  groves  of  luxuriant  trees, 
while  the  eye  was  not  pained  by  the  sight  of  dry  dusty 
fields.  We  reached  the  gate  of  Sidon  by  ten  o’clock, 
having  been  fifteen  hours  on  horseback.  We  were  too 
late  for  admission  into  the  town,  and  had  to  encamp  on 
the  outside  of  the  walls.  The  ground  was  so  rocky  and 
uneven,  that  it  was  with  difficulty  we  managed  to  drive 
in  the  pins  of  our  tents,  but  this  did  not  prevent  us  from 
enjoying  a  refreshing  sleep. 


*  See  Prov.  ix.  14,  15. 


ARRIVAL  AT  BEYROUT — SABBATH. 


319 


We  rose  early  next  morning  (July  20),  and  saw  the 
Moslem  ladies,  all  swathed  in  white,  moving  out  of  the 
town  to  visit  the  graves,  as  much  for  recreation  as  from 
respect  to  the  dead.  These  are  in  a  pleasant  grove  of 
cypresses  and  other  trees  which  shelter  the  eastern  side 
of  the  town.  The  English  Vice-Consul  waited  on  us  at 
our  tent,  and  brought  us  the  news  of  the  death  of  the 
Sultan  of  Constantinople.  We  were  soon  mounted,  and 
leaving  the  walls  of  Sidon  far  behind  us,  we  rode  along 
the  bay  of  Naby-Younes  again,  crossed  the  Damour,  and 
passed  through  the  mulberry  gardens  where  we  had  lost 
our  way.  On  leaving  the  shore,  instead  of  crossing  the 
bar  of  sand,  our  servants  guided  us  by  a  very  pleasant 
road,  through  the  vast  grove  of  olives  that  stretches  along 
the  foot  of  Lebanon.  In  one  of  the  gardens  is  a  khan, 
which  they  call  a  “  Sunday-khan,”  because  it  is  regularly 
frequented  on  Sunday  afternoons  by  the  Greek  priests 
and  their  people,  who  spend  the  day  in  amusements  and 
dissipation.  We  were  anxious  to  reach  Beyrout  in  time 
to  visit  the  Jewish  synagogue,  for  that  was  the  day  set 
apart  for  the  commemoration  of  the  destruction  of  the 
Temple,  a  remarkable  occasion  among  the  Jews.  But 
in  this  we  failed.  We  arrived,  however,  before  the  sun 
went  down,  and  rode  in  at  the  gate  filled  with  joy  and 
thankfulness  to  God  for  permitting  us  to  visit  Galilee, 
and  bringing  us  back  in  safety  and  peace. 

(July  21.  Sabbath.)  In  the  forenoon,  Mr.  Bonar  preach¬ 
ed  on  John  vii.  37,  to  a  respectable  audience  in  the  spa¬ 
cious  apartment  of  the  American  Consul.  We  afterwards 
attended  the  Sabbath-school  in  one  of  the  Mission-houses, 
and  had  the  pleasure  of  addressing  a  class  of  young  Sy¬ 
rians  who  understood  English.  In  the  evening,  Mr. 
M‘Cheyne  expounded  Acts  ix.  in  a  large  prayer  meet¬ 
ing,  at  which  the  American  brethren  and  their  families 
were  present.  And  thus  we  drank  of  “  the  streams  from 
Lebanon,”  in  a  dry  and  thirsty  land. 


We  now  found  that  the  next  Austrian  steamer  would 
sail  for  Smyrna  in  a  week ;  so  that  we  took  up  our  abode 
again  at  the  inn  of  Giuseppe,  who  paid  us  every  atten¬ 
tion.  We  occupied  ourselves  during  this  time,  chiefly  in 
making  up  our  journals  and  writing  home,  and  in  the 
cool  of  the  evenings  enjoyed  a  quiet  walk  along  the  rocky 
beach.  One  evening  we  saw  the  funeral  of  a  poor  native. 
The  body  was  carried  out  of  the  town,  not  in  a  coffin, 


320 


SAIL  FOR  SMYRNA. 


but  on  a  bier,  like  the  widow’s  son  at  Nairn*  A  few 
mourners  followed,  lamenting  him  with  occasional  cries. 
Another  evening,  we  paid  a  short  visit  along  with  one 
of  the  merchants  of  the  town  to  Sir  Moses  Montefiore  and 
his  lady,  who  were  here  waiting  for  a  vessel  to  carry 
them  to  Egypt. 

In  the  middle  of  the  week,  Mr.  M‘Cheyne  was  seized 
with  fever.  Dr.  Gerstmannf  of  the  Jerusalem  Mission, 
himself  a  converted  Jew,  waited  upon  him  with  all  kind¬ 
ness,  and  ordered  him  to  be  removed  to  a  house  upon 
the  height  above  the  town,  where  the  atmosphere  w~as 
cool.  The  disease  seemed  to  abate  a  little  on  the  Satur¬ 
day,  so  that  the  physician  recommended  us  to  make  pre¬ 
parations  for  sailing  next  day.  He  thought  that  there 
would  be  greater  hope  of  Mr.  M.’s  recovery  by  enjoying 
the  cool  breeze  of  the  sea,  than  by  remaining  three 
weeks  longer  in  the  confined  atmosphere  of  Beyrout. 

Accordingly,  on  the  afternoon  of  Sabbath,  July  28,  we 
bade  farewell  to  our  many  kind  friends,  and  embarked 
in  the  Austrian  steamer,  called  Schnell-Segler,  “  Swift 
Sailer,”  which  sailed  from  the  harbour  at  five  o’clock. 
The  four  Jews  from  the  Dardanelles,  with  whom  we  had 
sailed  into  Egypt,  and  whom  we  now  met  for  the  third 
time,  to  their  surprise  and  ours,  were  the  only  faces  we 
knew  on  board.  There  was  one  young  man  in  the  vessel 
who  could  speak  a  little  English.  It  was  a  solemn  and  al¬ 
most  melancholy  Sabbath  evening  to  us.  Mr.  M.  was  laid 
down  upon  the  deck,  and  we  kept  our  eye  upon  the  ma¬ 
jestic  brow  of  Lebanon,  (the  emblem  of  the  Redeemer’s 
countenance,!)  till  it  faded  from  our  view  in  the  dim  and 
brief  twilight  of  evening. 


But  here  let  us  for  a  moment  review  all  that  we  have 
seen  and  heard  in  regard  to  the  condition  of  Israel  in 
their  own  land.  We  visited  every  city  and  village  in  Pa¬ 
lestine  where  Jews  are  to  be  found  (with  the  exception 
of  Jaffa,  and  two  small  villages  upon  Mount  Naphtali), 

*  Luke  vii.  14. 

t  On  the  23d  August,  1841,  little  more  than  two  years  after,  this  wor¬ 
thy  young  physician  died  of  a  similar  fever  at  Constantinople,  to  which 
station  he  had  been  removed.  He  was  a  man  of  an  excellent  spirit, 
one  who  loved  Christ  with  all  his  heart,  and  was  very  bold  in  recom¬ 
mending  him  to  others.  One  day  Lady  M.  said  to  him  with  great  ve¬ 
hemence,  that  she  would  rather  lose  her  head  than  forsake  the  faith  of 
her  fathers;  his  answer  was,  “If  you  do  not  turn  and  believe  on  Christ, 
you  will  never  see  the  kingdom  of  heaven.” 

t  Song  v.  15. 


GENERAL  REMARKS. 


321 


and  we  ha^e  been  led  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Holy 
Land  presents  the  most  important  and  interesting  of  all 
the  fields  of  labour  among  the  Jews. 

I.  The  Jews  are  in  affliction  in  the  land  of  their  fathers, 
and  this  makes  them  more  friendly  there  than  in  othei 
lands.  In  other  countries,  where  they  are  wealthy  and 
comfortable,  or  deeply  engaged  in  worldly  business,  we 
found  that  they  care  little  to  attend  to  the  words  of  the 
Christian  missionary.  But,  in  J udea,  the  plague,  poverty, 
the  oppression  of  their  rabbis,  and  the  insults  of  the 
heathen,  have  so  humbled  them,  that  they  cling  to  any 
one  who  offers  to  show  them  kindness,  however  averse 
to  the  doctrine  which  he  teaches. 

II.  They  are  strictly  Rabbinical  Jews,  untainted  by 
the  infidelity  of  France  or  the  neology  of  Germany. 
They  hold  the  Old  Testament  to  be  indeed  the  Word  of 
God.  They  have  a  real  expectation  of  the  coming  of  the 
Messiah ;  and  this  expectation  is  certainly  greater  now 
than  it  was  formerly.  The  missionary  has  thus  firm 
ground  to  stand  upon,  and,  with  the  Hebrew  Bible  in  his 
hand,  may  expound  to  them,  with  intelligence  and  power, 
all  that  is  written  in  the  Law  of  Moses,  and  in  the  Pro¬ 
phets,  and  in  the  Psalms,  concerning  Jesus. 

HI.  Moreover,  Judea  must  be  regarded  as  the  centre, 
of  the  Jewish  world.  Every  Jew,  in  whatever  country 
he  sojpurns,  turns  his  face  toward  Jerusalem  in  prayer. 
It  is  the  heart  of  the  nation,  and  every  impression  made 
there  is  transmitted  to  all  the  scattered  members.  We 
afterwards  met  a  poor  Jew  at  Ibraila,  a  small  town  upon 
the  Danube,  who  told  us  of  conversions  that  had  taken 
place  at  Jerusalem.  In  this  way,  whatever  is  done  for 
the  Jews  in  Palestine,  will  make  a  hundred-fold  more 
impression  than  if  it  were  done  in  any  other  land. 

IV.  Another  important  consideration  is,  that  in  Pales¬ 
tine  the  Jews  look  upon  the  English  as  friends.  Three 
months  before  our  arrival  in  Jerusalem,  an  English 
Consul  had  been  stationed  there — a  true  and  zealous 
friend  of  Israel,  whose  jurisdiction  extended  over  the 
country  once  given  to  the  twelve  tribes,  and  whose  in¬ 
structions  from  the  British  Government  were,  that  he 
should,  to  the  utmost  of  his  power,  afford  protection  to 
the  Jews.  The  recent  changes  in  Syria  have  no  doubt 
for  a  time  interfered  with  these  arrangements ;  but  still, 
is  not  the  hand  of  an  overruling  Providence  visible  in 
them 1  And  is  it  not  our  duty  to  improve  to  the  utmost 

29  * 


822  GENERAL  REMARKS  ON  THE  HOLY  LAND 

the  interest  we  have  in  the  affections  of  the  Jews,  by 
being  the  friends  of  their  never-dying  souls  1 

V.  In  addition  to  all  this,  there  is  no  country  under 
heaven  to  which  Christians  turn  with  such  a  lively  in¬ 
terest  as  Immanuel’s  land.  “  God’s  servants  take  plea¬ 
sure  in  her  stones  and  favour  the  dust  thereof.”  But 
especially  those  who  love  Israel  bear  it  upon  their  hearts, 
because  its  name  is  inwoven  with  the  coming  conversion 
of  Israel.  It  is  upon  “  the  house  of  David,  and  upon  the 
inhabitants  of  Jerusalem”  that  God  has  said  he  will  pour 
his  Spirit.*  “  On  the  high  mountains  of  Israel  shall  their 
fold  be  ;”f  and  “  they  shall  feed  in  Bashan  and  Gilead, 
as  in  the  days  of  old ;  ’{  and  God  himself  has  said,  “  I 
will  remember  the  land”\ 

On  these  grounds,  we  rest  our  conviction  that  the  Holy 
Land  presents  not  only  the  most  attractive,  but  the  most 
important  field  for  missionary  operations  among  the 
Jews. 

In  the  south  of  the  Holy  Land,  the  London  Society  for 
the  Conversion  of  the  Jews  have  maintained  for  several 
years  an  effective  Mission.  Jerusalem  is  their  head¬ 
quarters,  so  that  the  southern  parts  may  be  fairly  regard¬ 
ed  as  pre-occupied.  But  the  north  of  the  land,  the  region 
of  ancient  Galilee,  containing  nearly  half  of  the  Jewish 
population  of  Palestine,  still  presents  an  open||  and  un¬ 
cultivated  field. 

In  that  beautiful  country,  the  town  of  Saphet  at  once 
commends  itself  as  the  most  favourable  point  for  the 
centre  of  a  Jewish  Mission.  It  is  one  of  the  four  cities 
regarded  as  holy  by  the  Jews,  and  therefore  they  cling 
to  it  in  spite  of  the  awful  convulsions  of  nature  and  the 
ravages  of  war.  Before  the  earthquake  on  1st  January 
1837,  it  is  said  that  there  were  7000  Jews  residing  there. 
It  has  again  gradually  been  raised  out  of  its  ruins,  and 
there  were  at  the  time  of  our  visit  about  2000  Jewish 
inhabitants.  A  ride  of  six  hours  from  Saphet  brings  you 
to  Tiberias,  on  the  margin  of  the  Lake  of  Galilee,  another 
of  the  holy  cities,  and  containing  1500  Jews.  Saphet 
is  also  within  a  few  days’  journey  of  Tyre,  Sidon,  Acre, 
Khaifa,  Beyrout,  and  Damascus ;  in  each  of  which  there 

*  Zech.  xii.  10.  f  Ezek.  xxxiv.  14. 

t  Mic.  vii.  14.  §  Lev.  xxvi.  42. 

II  Of  course,  as  a  Presbyterian  Church,  claiming  equal  apostolic 
authority  with  the  Church  of  England,  the  Church  of  Scotland  will  not 
consider  the  appointment  of  a  Bishop,  which  has  taken  place  during 
this  year  (1842),  as  in  any  way  debarring  her  from  coming  into  the 
field. 


AS  A  MISSIONARY  FIELD. 


323 


are  many  Jews— so  that  it  forms  the  centre  of  a  most 
interesting  field. 

The  climate  of  Saphet  is  peculiarly  delightful,  owing 
to  its  lofty  situation.  In  one  of  the  hottest  days  ir^July, 
the  thermometer  rose  no  higher  in  the  shade  than  76°  F. 
In  Tiberias,  again,  the  winter’s  cold  is  scarcely  felt  at  all. 

If  the  Church  of  Scotland  were  privileged  to  establish 
a  Mission  in  Saphet,  what  an  honour  would  it  be  to 
tread,  as  it  were,  in  the  very  footsteps  of  the  Saviour,  to 
make  the  very  rocks  that  re-echoed  his  “  strong  crying 
and  tears,”  and  the  very  hills  where  he  said,  “  Blessed 
are  the  peacemakers,”  resound  with  the  cries  of  believ¬ 
ing  prayer,  and  with  the  proclamation  of  the  gospel  of 
peace !  And  if  God  were  to  own  and  bless  our  efforts, 
would  not  the  words  of  the  prophet  receive  a  second  ful¬ 
filment,  “  The  land  of  Zebulon  and  the  land  of  Nephtha- 
lim,  by  the  way  of  the  sea  beyond  Jordan,  Galilee  of  the 
Gentiles ;  the  people  which  sat  in  darkness,  saw  great 
light ;  and  to  them  which  sat  in  the  region  and  shadow 
of  death,  light  is  sprung  up!”* 


*  Matt.  iv.  15,  16. 


324 


CHAPTER  VI. 

SMYRNA  AND  CONSTANTINOPLE. 

“And  they  that  are  left  of  you  shall  pine  away  in  their  iniquity  in 
your  enemies’  lands ;  and  also  in  the  iniquities  of  their  fathers  shall 
they  pine  away  with  them.” — Lev.  xxvi.  39. 

(July  29.)  At  seven  in  the  morning  we  found  ourselves 
approaching  Cyprus.  Here  we  anchored  for  some  hours 
off  Larnica,  which  is  near  the  ancient  Citium.  There 
seemed  at  this  point  little  to  interest  a  traveller  in  the 
island  itself;  a  ridge  of  bare  limestone  hills  formed  the 
prominent  feature  of  the  scene,  while  a  dry,  parching 
sun  glowed  over  us  like  a  furnace.  The  town  itself, 
however,  looks  well,  its  mosque  and  white  houses  peer¬ 
ing  through  tall  and  graceful  palm-trees.  At  a  former 
period,  Cyprus  must  have  been  remarkably  productive 
and  well  peopled.  Mr.  Thomson,  from  whom  we  so 
lately  parted  at  Beyrout,  had  travelled  through  the  in¬ 
terior  of  the  island,  and  in  his  journey  visited  not  fewer 
than  sixty  villages,  which  had  remains  of  ancient  churches 
now  ruined  and  desolate;  and  everywhere  he  found 
wide  plains  left  uncultivated,  which  might  yield  abund¬ 
ant  harvests.  It  is  an  island  which  no  Christian  can 
gaze  upon  without  remembering  the  days  of  the  apos¬ 
tles.  For  this  was  the  native  country  of  Barnabas,*  who 
sold  his  estates  and  brought  the  money  to  Jerusalem  for 
the  use  of  the  infant  Church,  and  who  afterwards,  in 
company  with  Paul,  traversed  its  whole  extent  from  Sa- 
lamis  to  Paphos,  preaching  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
Christ.  Here,  too,  Sergius  Paulus  had  his  residence, 
and  Elymas  the  sorcerer;  Mnason  also,  “the  old  dis¬ 
ciple,”  spent  his  youth  amidst  its  hills  and  plains.  But, 
there  is  no  Barnabas  nor  Mnason  in  Cyprus  now ;  for 
no  Jew  dare  plant  his  foot  upon  its  shores  because  of  the 
furious  bigotry  of  the  Greeks,  who  have  persecuted  with¬ 
out  remorse  every  wanderer  of  that  nation  that  has  visit- 


*  Acts  iv.  36. 


RHODES — COAST  OF  ASIA — CNIDOS — COOS.  325 

ed  or  been  cast  upon  their  coast  ever  since  the  reign  of 
Trajan.  To  ourselves  Cyprus  is  associated  with  some  of 
our  severest  trials.  For  it  was  here  that  Mr.  M‘Cheyne’s 
illness  increased,  the  fever  burning  hot  within  his  veins, 
while  there  was  no  medical  help  on  board,  nor  any  rem¬ 
edies  that  we  could  apply.  A  cooling  drink  or  a  fresh 
breeze  were  the  only  means  of  even  momentary  relief. 

Nexi  day  we  were  sailing  off  the  coast  of  Pamphylia, 
and  at  six  in  the  morning  of  the  succeeding  day  (July 
31)  were  anchored  off  Rhodes.  On  the  left  hand  of  the 
harbour  is  a  range  of  very  precipitous  hills.  The  town 
is  on  the  shore,  with  green  hills  rising  gently  behind,  and 
many  gardens  on  every  side.  All  around  the  sandy 
edge  in  the  vicinity  of  the  town  the  shore  is  lined  with 
windmills,  which  seem  to  be  much  in  use  throughout 
this  region.  It  is  said  by  recent  travellers  that,  at  the 
entrance  of  the  ancient  harbour,  there  are  still  remains 
of  buttresses,  the  distance  between  which  is  twenty- 
seven  yards,  a  space  sufficiently  wide  to  have  afforded 
room  for  the  famed  Colossus.  We  thought  upon  Paul 
sailing  past  Rhodes  as  he  hasted  to  Jerusalem,*  and  we 
wished  to  land,  for  there  are  here  about  1000  Jews;  but 
this  was  impossible  on  account  of  Mr.  M.’s  illness.  It 
was  here  the  well-known  commentator  Aben  Ezra  died, 
commanding  his  bones  to  be  carried  to  the  Holy  Land. 

After  leaving  the  harbour  in  the  afternoon,  we  found 
ourselves  sailing  close  to  the  shore  of  Caria,  the  water 
apparently  deep  to  the  very  edge,  with  steep  rocks  and 
hills  lining  the  shore.  Often  it  seemed  as  if  we  were 
sailing  close  under  the  base  of  some  of  our  own  High¬ 
land  mountains,  while  the  waves  gently  weltered  round 
the  base  of  the  rocks.  At  a  turn  of  the  coast  Cnidos  was 
pointed  out  to  us.  A  creek  running  up  a  considerable 
way  into  the  land  forms  a  complete  harbour;  but  a  ru¬ 
ined  tower  was  all  that  we  could  distinctly  discern  of 
the  ancient  town. 

We  now  saw  before  us  Stanchio,  the  ancient  Coos,  and 
felt  pleasure  in  gazing  on  it,  because  Paul  had  once  done 
the  same.f  On  reaching  the  harbour  the  vessel  made  a 
short  stay,  giving  us  opportunity  to  get  a  sight  of  its 
chief  town,  which  is  beautifully  situated  in  the  midst  of 
gardens.  The  buildings  are  all  of  white  stone,  and  the 
hills  form  a  green  acclivity  behind.  The  physician  Hip¬ 
pocrates  gave  this  island  its  renown  in  ancient  times. 


*  Acts  xxi.  1. 


t  Acts  xxi.  1. 


326 


PATMOS — SAMOS — SCIO. 


Once  more  afloat  on  the  Icarian  Sea,  we  passed  an 
English  frigate  in  full  sail,  welcome  to  us  as  being  in  a 
manner  a  relic  of  home,  and  in  itself  a  very  imposing 
object  on  these  seas.  But  a  far  more  interesting  sight 
engaged  our  attention  a  little  before  sunset.  An  intelli¬ 
gent  traveller  on  board  pointed  out  to  us  the  island  of 
Patmos ,  now  called  Palmosa.  It  lies  sixteen  miles  south¬ 
west  from  Samos,  and  is  about  eighteen  miles  in  circum¬ 
ference,  stretching  from  north  to  south.  We  saw  the 
peaks  of  its  two  prominent  hills,  but  our  course  did  not 
lie  very  near  it.  Still  it  was  intensely  interesting  to  get 
even  a  glance  of  that  remarkable  spot,  where  the  beloved 
disciple  saw  the  visions  of  God, — the  spot,  too,  where  the 
Saviour  was  seen,  and  his  voice  heard,  for  the  last  time 
till  he  comes  again.  It  is  the  only  spot  in  Europe  where 
the  Son  of  Man  showed  himself  in  his  humanity.  John’s 
eye  often  rested  on  the  mountains  and  islands  among 
which  we  were  now  passing,  and  on  the  shores  and 
waves  of  this  great  sea ;  and  often,  after  the  vision  was 
past,  these  natural  features  of  his  place  of  exile  would 
refresh  his  spirit,  recalling  to  his  mind  how  “  he  stood  on 
the  sand  of  the  sea,”*  and  how  he  had  seen  that  “  every 
island  fled  away,  and  the  mountains  were  not  found.”f 

Long  after  sunset  some  of  us  sat  on  deck  under  the 
clear  brilliant  firmament,  “sown  with  stars,”  whose 
bright  rays  glittered  on  the  blue  waters  like  beams  of 
the"  moon.  We  conversed  of  God’s  providence  —  “  his 
way  is  in  the  sea,  and  his  path  in  the  deep  waters”— 
and  of  Patmos,  where  the  fall  of  that  empire  through 
whose  dominion  we  were  now  passing,  was  long  ago 
foretold. 

(Aug.  1.)  Next  morning  we  were  on  the  shores  of 
Ionia. "  We  had  passed  Icaria,  and  were  sailing  by  Sa¬ 
mos ,  the  birthplace  of  Pythagoras.  We  thought  of  Paul 
touching  at  Samos  a  few  days  before  he  gave  his  mem¬ 
orable  address  to  the  elders  from  Ephesus.j;  Soon  after 
Chios, §  now  Scio,  came  in  view,  and  arriving  at  the  port, 
the  vessel  anchored  for  a  few  hours.  The  eye  rests  on 
many  buildings  on  the  shore,  dilapidated  and  empty, 
monuments  of  the  awful  scenes  of  massacre  that  devas¬ 
tated  this  beautiful  island  during  the  revolution.  The  town 
is  very  finely  situated,  embosomed  in  orange-trees.  Thei  e 
was  a  considerable  bustle  in  the  harbour;  and  boats 


*  Rev.  xiii.  1. 
t  Acts  xx.  15. 


t  Rev.  xvi.  20. 

$  See  Acts  xx.  15. 


SMYRNA — BOUJA. 


327 


filled  with  Greek  sailors  soon  surrounded  our  vessel. 
Ther2  were  on  board  some  Jews,  who,  as  we  left  the 
harbour,  pointed  to  Scio  as  the  burying-place  of  a  famous 
rabbi,  Baal  Turim.  Among  these  were  our  four  Jewish 
friends  whom  we  met  first  at  Syra  and  then  at  Sychem, 
and  who  were  now  returning  from  their  pilgrimage  to 
their  home  on  the  Dardanelles.  On  observing  that  Mr.  M. 
was  ill,  they  kindly  inquired  after  him,  and  continued  to 
shew  their  sympathy  till  we  parted  from  them  at  Smyrna. 

At  six  in  the  evening  we  anchored  at  Smyrna.  Many 
interesting  objects  met  the  eye  in  sailing  up  the  splendid 
gulf,  and  none  more  beautiful  than  the  town  itself,  lying 
close  to  the  shore,  set  round  with  tall  dark  green  cypress- 
trees,  with  beautiful  hills  behind.  There  is  one  eminence 
that  the  eye  falls  upon  near  to  the  entrance  of  the  harbour, 
dotted  over  with  white  flat  stones.  This  is  the  Jewish 
burying-ground. 

On  anchoring,  our  first  care  was  directed  to  get  medi¬ 
cal  advice  for  Mr.  M‘Cheyne.  But  we  found  that  we 
were  too  late  that  evening  to  get  any  medical  help  in  the 
town,  the  best  physicians  always  retiring  to  the  country 
at  night.  On  that  account,  and  as  the  town  itself  was 
oppressively  close  and  sultry,  Mr.  M.,  though  so  little 
able  for  any  journey  that  we  feared  every  moment  he 
would  sink  under  the  fatigue,  urged  us  to  proceed  at 
once  to  Bouja,  a  village  three  miles  off,  where  we  were 
assured  of  finding  an  English  physician.  The  innkeeper 
soon  furnished  us  with  asses,  and  agreed  to  be  himself 
our  conductor.  The  road  was  pleasant,  rows  of  cypress- 
trees  often  meeting  our  eye  in  the  gloom.  The  air,  too, 
was  fresher  than  in  the  town,  yet  even  here  it  was  sultry. 
On  arriving  at  the  inn  of  Bouja,  we  found  the  surgeon  of 
an  English  frigate  in  the  house  at  the  moment,  and  soon 
after  a  Greek  physician,  named  Dr.  Dracopoli,  well  skilled 
in  the  diseases  of  the  country,  was  recommended  to  us. 
Later  in  the  evening,  Mr.  Lewis  (formerly  a  labourer  in 
the  Jewish  cause,  and  now  chaplain  to  the  English  Con¬ 
sulate  in  Smyrna),  visited  us,  and  not  only  most  readily 
aided  us  in  our  perplexity,  but  insisted  on  all  of  us  re¬ 
moving  next  day  to  his  own  residence.  Never  did  any 
in  our  circumstances  meet  with  more  unremitting  atten¬ 
tion  and  true  Christian  kindness,  than  we  did  during 
our  stay  under  the  roof  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lewis.  Per¬ 
haps  Mr.  M‘Cheyne’s  recovery  was,  in  the  good  provi¬ 
dence  of  God,  to  be  mainly  attributed  to  their  care.  The 
Lord  grant  to  them  the  blessing  thflt  Paul  sought  for 


BOUJA— SABBATH  AT  SMYRNA. 


328 

Onesiphorus,  who  so  oft  refreshed  him;  “May  they  find 
mercy  of  the  Lord  in  that  day  1”  *  ^  .  ,,r 

Our  first  Sabbath  (Aug.  4)  was  spent  at  Bouja.  We 
worshipped  in  the  English  chapel  recently  erected  there, 
a  beautiful  and  commodious  building,  in  which  Mr.  Lewis 
and  Mr.  Jetter  (the  latter  sent  out  by  the  Church  Mis¬ 
sionary  Society)  officiate  alternately.  That  day,  m  our 
peculiar  circumstances,  Mr.  Lewis’  sermon  from  I  s.  xlvi. 
10,  came  home  to  the  heart,  “Be  still,  and  know  that  I 
am  God.”  There  was  singular  power  also  in  the  words 
that  were  written  over  the  pulpit  of  the  chapel,  “  Be  thou 
faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will  give  thee  a  crown  of 
life.”  f  We  felt  them  the  more,  remembering  that  we 
were  within  a  short  distance  of  the  city  where  the 
Church  used  to  assemble  to  which  these  words  were 
first  addressed,  and  the  spot  where  Polycarp,  so  long 
« the  angel  of  the  church  of  Smyrna,”  obeyed,  the  exhor¬ 
tation  and  received  his  reward.  To  us  this  was  “  a  day 

better  than  a  thousand.”  ,  ,  ., 

Our  next  Sabbath  was  not  so  still,  but  it,  too,  had  its 
peculiar  enjoyments.  It  was  spent  in  Smyrna.  Eaily 
in  the  morning  the  sound  of  bells  ringing  loudly  in  trie 
town  caused  not  a  little  surprise,  till  we  ascertained  that 
it  proceeded  from  the  Romish  churches  m  the  city,  bor 
the  Roman  Catholics,  every  where  zealous,  have  ^  here 
erected  three  large  and  splendid  churches,  and  alieady 
number  5000  members  in  Smyrna.  They  have  also  a 
flourishing  school,  to  which  they  give  the  name  of  a  Col¬ 
lege  “  di  Propaganda.'1'1  We  worshipped  in  the  forenoon 
in  the  English  chaplaincy ;  and  Mr.  Bonar  preached  upon 
Acts  viii.  8,  “  There  was  great  joy  in  that  city,  i  feasant 
it  was  to  pray  and  then  proclaim  the  Gospel  m  a  place  to 
which  the  Lord  had  once  spoken  by  name.  In  the  altei- 
noon,  we  joined  the  worship  of  the  American  Missiona¬ 
ries  in  the  Dutch  Consulate,  and  then  reached  Bouja  in 
time  to  enjoy  part  of  Mr.  Jetter’s  evening  service.  I  hese 
Sabbaths  in  a  foreign  land  were  seasons  of  peculiar  re¬ 
freshing.  On  more  than  one  occasion  also  we  enjoyed 
a  week-day  evening  service  in  the  village,  maintained 
by  our  American  brethren,  and  attended  by  an  audience 
of  about  fifty  individuals.  Mr.  Bonar  preached  one 
evening  on  Isaiah  xii. ;  and  these  pleasant  meetings 
brought  vividly  to  mind  the  similar  services  in  oui  o\\  n 
parishes  at  home. 


*  2  Tim.  i.  18. 


t  Rev.  ii.  10. 


YOUNG  JEWESS  OF  ANCONA. 


329 


Bouja,  where  we  resided,  is  a  beautiful  village,  much 
frequented  by  English  residents.  The  houses  are  gene¬ 
rally  built  apart  from  each  other,  with  a  garden  and  shrub¬ 
bery  round  them.  But  even  the  common  streets  of  this 
village  have  wide-spreading  trees  shooting  up  between 
the  houses.  Here,  too,  we  remarked  how  frequently  the 
villagers  at  evening  sit  in  social  companies,  to  enjoy  the 
evening  air  before  the  door  of  their  dwellings.  This  is 
the  custom  referred  to  by  Ezekiel,  “  the  children  of  thy 
people  are  talking  against  thee  by  the  walls  and  in  the 
doors  of  the  houses ”* — that  is,  in  the  midst  of  their  easy, 
thoughtless,  self-pleasing  companies.  The  evening  breeze 
is  sweet,  and  the  nightingale’s  song  is  not  uncommon. 
A  person  residing  here  is  taught  by  experience,  during 
all  hours  of  the  day,  the  meaning  of  Anacreon’s  refer¬ 
ences  to  the  “  «rri£”  or  grasshopper,  which  in  a  manner 
peoples  the  trees  and  chirps  incessantly,  as  he  describes : 

— “  A evtipecri  KaOiaas 
Bao-iXsuj  OTrcoj  asiSeis- 

(“  King-like  you  sit  upon  your  tree  and  sing.”) 

Oftentimes  during  our  stay  Mr.  Lewis  gave  us  in¬ 
teresting  information  in  regard  to  his  labours  among  the 
Jews  at  a  former  period.  One  evening,  telling  us  of  his 
residence  in  Italy,  he  related  the  case  of  a  young  Jewess 
of  Ancona,  whose  name  was  Sarina.  She  was  a  teacher, 
and  being  the  only  Jewess  of  any  education  in  the  town, 
even  boys  were  put  under  her  tuiti-on.  Besides  Italian,  she 
knew  Latin  and  some  other  languages,  and  could  teach 
geography  and  other  branches  of  education.  Though 
occupied  with  the  children  from  eight  in  the  morning 
till  eight  at  night,  she  used,  as  soon  as  her  work  was 
done,  to  come  to  the  house  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lewis  to  con¬ 
verse  with  them.  They  found  her  a  most  amiable  and 
intelligent  young  woman,  willing  to  listen  to  the  teach¬ 
ing  of  a  Christian  instructor.  She  read  Christian  books 
which  they  lent  her ;  translated  them  into  Italian ;  and 
told  them  frankly  the  ignorance  and  wretched  state  of 
Jewesses  in  Ancona.  On  their  departure,  the  grief  of 
Sarina  was  extreme;  indeed,  she  would  gladly  have  ac¬ 
companied  them,  but  she  had  an  aged  mother  depending 
on  her  exertions  for  support.  They  heard  no  more  of 
her  till  recently,  when  they  received  notice  of  her  death. 
She  died  about  two  years  ago;  and  the  last  book  she 
was  found  translating  was  one  “  on  the  Truth  of  Chris¬ 
tianity.” 

*  Ezek.  xxxiii.  30. 

30 


330 


JEWS— MR.  COHEN. 


Once  01  twice  we  met  with  a  young  American  trave; 
ler,  who  was  in  the  inn  when  we  arrived.  His  infor 
mation  about  the  Karaite  Jews  confirmed  what  we  had 
elsewhere  heard  of  that  sect.  He  had  just  come  from 
the  Crimea,  where  he  saw  them  in  their  chief  town,  called 
Joofud  Kallah,  “  the  fortress  of  the  infidels.”  He  thinks 
that  there  were  about  1500  in  that  town;  and  in  the 
whole  Crimea  about  5000.  They  are  the  most  respec¬ 
table  of  all  Jews,  men  of  character,  and  intelligence,  very 
cleanly  and  industrious  in  their  habits,  and  much  fa¬ 
voured  by  the  Government.  It  is  said  that  the  ivord  of 
a  Karaite  is  more  trustworthy  than  the  bond  of  another 
Jew.  One  day  while  making  inquiries  regarding  the 
Jews  at  Mr.  H.  Barker,  a  merchant  of  the  town,  he  told 
us  a  recent  instance  of  the  insults  and  oppression  which 
Jews  not  unfrequently  meet  with  at  the  hands  of  both 
Turks  and  Greeks.  He  saw  a  Greek  go  to  a  Jew  who 
was  walking  before  him,  and  strike  him  so  violent  a  blow, 
that  the  poor  Jew  burst  into  tears,  but  made  no  resist¬ 
ance.  Mr.  B.  went  up  and  asked  the  Greek  why  he  had 
been  guilty  of  this  unprovoked  outrage  1  “  Because  he  is 
a  hater  of  Christ was  the  cool  reply  of  the  Greek.  A 
few  days  ago,  also,  a  Jew  was  bathing  in  the  sea  along 
with  a  Turk.  In  plunging  into  the  water,  the  Turk 
struck  upon  an  anchor,  which  caused  his  death.  The 
Jew  was  immediately  imprisoned  on  the  charge,  “  that 
perhaps  he  was  the  cause  of  the  accident  and  no  one 
could  tell  what  might  be  the  result.  How  truly  did 
Moses  foretell  of  Israel,  “  thou  shalt  be  only  oppressed 
and  crushed  alway.”  * 

Our  most  important  information  regarding  the  Jews 
was  obtained  from  Giovanni  Baptist  Cohen,  a  converted 
Israelite,  who  is  employed  by  the  London  Jewish  Society 
to  labour  among  his  brethren  in  Smyrna.  Not  long  after 
our  arrival  we  called  upon  him,  when  he  kindly  offered  to 
visit  the  Jews  along  with  us.  Accordingly,  on  Saturday 
(Aug.  10)  we  set  out  at  six  o’clock  in  the  morning.  As  we 
went  along  we  met  a  considerable  number  of  Jews  at  that 
early  hour  returning  from  synagogue  worship.  <  These, 
we  were  told,  had  already  finished  their  morning  ser¬ 
vice  ;  for,  being  more  devout,  or  at  least  adhering  more 
rigidly  to  the  letter  of  the  Scriptures  than  their  brethren, 
they  have  service  before  sunrise,  referring  to  Ps.  Ixxii. 
5,  as  their  authority,  “they  shall  fear  thee  before  the 
gun” — that  is,  before  the  sun  rises,  as  they  under- 

*  Deut.  xxviii.  33. 


JEWS — MR.  COHEN. 


331 


stand  the  Hebrew.  We  met  also  more  females  on  their 
way  to  the  synagogue  than  we  had  usually  observed  in 
other  places.  All  the  synagogues  were  clean  and  com¬ 
modious,  with  porches  before  the  entrance  for  the  sake 
of  coolness.  These  were  often  shaded  by  the  spreading 
vine,  and  many  of  the  worshippers  were  reading  their 
prayers  under  its  shelter.  There  appeared  to  be  sincere 
devotion  among  them,  for  their  attention  was  not  divert¬ 
ed  from  the  service  by  the  entrance  of  strangers. 

The  Jewish  population  of  Smyrna  is  about  9000,  and 
that  it  is  on  the  increase  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  they 
are  at  present  building  an  additional  synagogue,  although 
they  have  already  ten  or  twelve.  The  only  missionary 
here  is  Mr.  Cohen,  mentioned  above,  a  native  of  Con¬ 
stantinople,  who  is  a  great  linguist,  and  aole  to  speak 
with  some  ease,  Italian,  French,  Spanish,  Greek,  English, 
Turkish,  Armenian,  and  Hebrew.  His  wife  is  a  Sciote 
by  birth,  one  of  those  who  were  rescued  from  the  mas¬ 
sacre,  and  educated  in  England.  He  has  free  inter¬ 
course  with  all  the  Jews,  and  they  return  his  visits. 

While  we  were  with  him  in  the  forenoon,  three  intelli¬ 
gent  and  respectable  Jews  called,  who  spent  fully  three 
hours  in  conversation.  He  led  them  to  speak  of  Isaiah 
liii.  Turning  up  the  works  of  Jarchi  (or  Rashi,)  they 
were  very  free  in  their  remarks  on  that  commentatoi  , 
and  one  of  the  three  on  going  away,  said  that  “  he  was 
more  than  two-thirds  persuaded  that  Christianity  was 
true.”  Mr.  Cohen  told  us  after  they  had  gone,  that  their 
state  of  mind  was  not  an  uncommon  one  among  the 
Jews  of  Smyrna.  He  knew  at  least  five  families  in  the 
town,  who  were  inclined  to  leave  Judasim  to  this  extent, 
that  they  would  admit  Jesus  as  Messiah,  but  keep  up 
their  national  rites  and  customs.  Most  of  these  were 
careless  till  he  visited  them;  but  now  they  diligently 
read  the  Old  Testament,  and  allow  him  to  read  to  them 
out  of  the  New. 

In  the  evening,  a  great  many  Jews  called;  they  sat 
in  the  lower  room,  and  at  the  door,  which  stood  open  to 
the  street*  One  of  them,  a  very  liberal-minded  Jew, 
called  our  attention  to  a  Roman  catholic  priest  who  was 
passing  by,  and  remanced,  “  Our  rabbis  and  these  priests 
are  alike  impostors .” 

Mr.  Cohen  has  been  ten  years  here,  and  has  found 
great  freedom  of  inquiry  among  the  Je  ws.  At  the  same 
time,  no  sooner  is  a  baptism  proposed  than  the  Jews  stir 
*  See  Ezek.  xxxiii.  30 ;  and  p.  329. 


332 


JEWISH  SCHOOL — SALONIKI. 


up  the  Government,  and  the  convert  is  obliged  to  leave 
the  place.  Several,  however,  have  been  baptized  in  the 
Greek  and  Romish  churches,  because  the  members  of 
these  communions  have  means  of  protecting  them. 

The  Jews  have  many  schools,  but  their  system  of 
teaching  is  most  deplorable.  No  enlightened  attempt 
has  ever  been  made  for  the  instruction  of  the  Jewish 
children  under  fourteen  years  of  age.  Missionaries 
might  establish  schools  with  good  hope  of  success,  be¬ 
cause  these  children  are  cruelly  used,  as  well  as  ill  in¬ 
structed,  under  their  present  teachers;  and  the  Old  Tes¬ 
tament  being  made  their  school-book,  the  teacher  might 
explain  it,  and  ground  the  whole  truth  thereon.  The 
inducements  of  a  solid  education  in  Hebrew  grammar, 
and  perhaps  in  some  of  the  modern  languages,  would 
lead  them  to  come.  The  common  people  among  the 
Jews  are  simple,  not  very  superstitious,  and  easily  affect¬ 
ed  by  kindness.  It  would  be  important  to  instruct  the 
Jews  in  the  grammar  of  the  Spanish ;  and  a  cheap  edi¬ 
tion  of  a  Spanish  dictionary  and  grammar  would  be  of 
great  use.  They  have  about  thirty  libraries  in  the  town, 
all  on  a  private  footing,  and  of  no  great  importance. 
Several  individuals,  well  qualified  to  judge,  spoke  much 
regarding  the  want  of  good  tracts  suited  to  the  capaci¬ 
ties  and  modes  of  thinking  of  those  for  whom  they  are 
intended.  Mr.  Lewis  mentioned  the  case  of  an  English 
tract  translated  into  Italian  so  literally  that  it  was  unin¬ 
telligible  ;  and  many  are  unacceptable  because  not  idio¬ 
matic.  On  the  other  hand,  a  polished  Italian  will  fre¬ 
quently  be  induced  to  read  a  tract,  if  only  it  be  written 
in  elegant  Italian  for  the  sake  of  the  language. 

From  various  individuals  we  heard  of  Saloniki,  the  an¬ 
cient  'Fhessalonica .  Drs.  Black  and  Keith  had  proposed 
to  visit  it ;  but  were  not  able  to  accomplish  their  inten¬ 
tion.  The  Jewish  community  there  are  very  exclusive, 
quite  a  nation  by  themselves.  They  have  great  influ¬ 
ence  in  the  city,  and  their  numbers  are  reckoned  at 
50,000.  Their  real  condition  could  be  known  only  by 
long  residence  among  them,  for  they  are  reserved,  and 
keep  aloof  from  all  strangers.  On  this  account,  the  re¬ 
ports  of  merchants  cannot  be  very  accurate.  They  are 
very  strict  Jews.  Many  poor  people  among  them  spend 
their  time  in  reading  and  study,  receiving  money  for  their 
support  by  charity.  They  publish  many  books,  almost 
every  Jew  there  aspiring  to  be  the  author  of  some  trea¬ 
tise.  They  study  astronomy,  and  publish  the  best  Jewish 


JEWS. 


333 


Almanacs,  both  in  regard  to  seasons  and  changes  of 
weather.  It  is  asserted,  that  their  almanac  for  1837  had 
put  down  that  there  would  be  an  earthquake  on  the  1st  of 
January  of  that  year,  and  another  on  the  21st.  Both  of 
these  actually  occurred,  and  by  the  first  of  them  the  town 
of  Saphet  was  destroyed.  From  this  supposed  predic¬ 
tion,  they  acquired  great  fame  among  the  Jews.  It  is 
also  a  curious  fact,  and  characteristic  of  the  people,  that 
the  famous  impostor,  Sabbathai  Sevi,  who  was  bora  at 
Smyrna,  has  still  many  followers  at  Saloniki. 

On  another  occasion,  Mr.  Caiman  spent  a  whole  day 
in  town  visiting  the  Jews,  along  with  Mr.  Cohen.  He 
was  led  by  him  to  visit  the  families  who  are  disposed  to 
admit  Christ  as  Messiah,  but  would  still  retain  national 
rites,  such  as  the  Passover  and  the  Jewish  Sabbath.  All 
these  are  rich,  possessed  of  large  magazines  or  stores, 
and  under  European  protection,  so  that  they  are  not 
affected  by  the  common  inducements  of  a  worldly  na¬ 
ture  ;  but  they  are  weary  of  the  bondage  of  the  rabbis. 
They  said  that  they  have  read  the  New  Testament,  and 
found  in  it  nothing  against  keeping  Saturday  as  the  Sab¬ 
bath  ;  and  the  Saturday  they  will  not  consent  to  re¬ 
nounce,  for  they  believe  that  they  would  be  traitors  to 
their  people,  if  they  threw  off  this  mark  of  nationality. 
They  proposed  to  keep  their  feasts  also  as  memorials 
that  Jehovah,  whom  they  now  worship  as  Messiah,  is 
the  same  God  who  redeemed  them  of  old.  They  would 
call  themselves  “  Believers  in  Messiah ,”  but  not  “  Chris¬ 
tians ,”  because  all  whom  they  have  ever  known  under 
the  latter  name  are  given  to  idolatry  and  immorality. 
If  a  church  were  formed  on  these  principles,  and  had 
the  sympathy  of  influential  friends  in  England,  they  have 
no  doubt  but  hundreds  would  soon  join  them.  Mr.  Caiman 
thought  them  well  versed  in  Scripture,  but  that  they  did 
not  feel  the  burden  of  sin.  Their  assent  to  Christianity 
is  intellectual ;  they  would  embrace  it  as  a  deliverance 
from  a  superstition  of  which  they  are  weary.  The  same 
feeling  begins  to  prevail  among  the  Jewish  females.  An 
old  Jewess,  named  Medina,  whom  Mr.  Cohen  was  in¬ 
strumental  in  arousing  to  a  concern  about  her  soul,  has 
become  very  zealous  in  doing  good  to  others,  delights  in 
reading  the  Scriptures,  visits  other  Jewesses,  and  has 
succeeded  in  leading  many  of  them  to  her  views. 

(Aug.  15.)  We  were  able  to  devote  a  day  to  visiting 
the  Jewish  schools.  One  of  them  meets  in  an  extensive 

30* 


334 


SMYRNA  AS  A  MISSIONARY  STATION. 


building,  having  an  open  square  in  the  midst,  but  close 
and  dirty.  It  contained  ten  apartments,  with  about  forty 
children,  and  a  separate  teacher  in  each.  Some  of  the 
children  were  further  advanced  than  the  others,  but  there 
seemed  to  be  no  regular  gradation  in  the  classes.  Few 
of  them  had  books'^  not  one  in  ten  had  a  Bible.  They 
are  fine  interesting  children,  but  miserably  taught ;  kept 
in  fear  by  the  lash  of  their  teacher,  who  tyrannises  over 
them.  As  we  entered  one  room,  the  teacher  was  in  the 
act  of  applying  the  bastinado  to  a  boy.  On  seeing  us, 
the  rest  of  the  scholars  cried  out  in  Spanish,  “  Franco , 
Franco ,  salvanos ,”  “  Frank,  Frank,  help  us.”  The  bas¬ 
tinado  is  applied  by  twisting  a  rope,  fixed  on  a  short 
stick,  round  the  feet  of  the  culprit,  who  is  laid  on  his 
face ;  and  then  a  strong  whip  made  of  ox-hide,  is  smartly 
applied  to  the  soles  of  his  feet.  Each  schoolmastei  had 
two  of  these  thick  whips  hanging  in  his  room,  along 
with  this  miniature  bastinado.  The  whips  seemed  well 
used,  being  worn  to  fibres  at  the  end.  We  saw  also  the 
stocks,  ready  for  fixing  the  feet  of  those  who  were  to  be 
less  severely  punished.  The  boy  whom  we  rescued  from 
punishment  was  guilty  of  absenting  himself  from  the 
school — a  line  of  conduct  we  did  not  much  wonder  at, 
when  such  was  the  teacher  and  his  discipline.  We 
bought  from  one  of  the  teachers  a  whip  and  a  bastinado, 
as  memorials  of  Jewish  darkness.  The  rabbi  who  taught 
the  highest  class,  where  the  Talmud  is  the  text-book,  put 
many  questions  to  us  about  the  Jews  in  Palestine,  and 
said,  “  he  himself  was  a  poor  man,  but  had  sent  already 
200  piastres  to  them.” 


In  reviewing  the  information  we  obtained  regarding 
the  Jews  here,  we  feel  convinced  that  Smyrna  piesents 
much  to  invite  the  attention  of  a  missionary.  Indepen¬ 
dently  of  the  interest  attached  to  the  place  as  having 
been  the  seat  of  a  Jewish  community  since  the  Christian 
er a independently,  too,  of  its  being  a  place  whose  as¬ 
sociations  with  the  Apocalypse,  and  with  the  history  of 
Polycarp,  give  it  a  peculiar  interest  in  the  eyes  of  every 
Christian,  it  deserves  regard  on  account  of  the  large 
population  of  Jews  residing  in  the  city  and  neighbouring 
villages,  and  the  vast  numbers  from  other  countries  who 
visit  it  from  time  to  time.  Jews  call  at  this  port  from 
all  parts  of  Asia,  as  well  as  from  Constantinople  and  its 
vicinity.  It  might  yet  become  the  door  of  access  even 


SMYRNA  AS  A  MISSIONARY  STATION.  335 

to  the  hitherto  secluded  Jews  of  Saloniki,  some  of  whom 
occasionally  visit  Smyrna. 

The  literary  qualifications  needful  for  a  missionary  to 
this  city  are  not  very  formidable.  Acquaintance  with  the 
Spanish  and  Italian  languages,  joined  to  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  and  moderate  at¬ 
tainments  in  Jewish  literature,  would  fit  the  missionary 
for  his  work.  The  climate  is  one  which  was  highly  es¬ 
teemed  by  the  ancients,  who  have  celebrated  the  air  of 
Ionia,  and  many  of  our  countrymen  who  reside  there  for 
the  sake  of  trade,  have  found  it  by  no  means  unhealthy 
or  unpleasant. 

The  only  obstacles  in  the  way  of  a  mission  are,  the 
difficulty  of  supporting  converts,  and  the  danger  of  the 
Government  interfering,  in  the  event  of  the  Jewish  com¬ 
munity  remonstrating  against  the  baptism  of  any  of  their 
brethren.  But  these  obstacles  are  to  be  met  with  every 
where,  and  are  such  as  a  devoted  missionary  is  entitled 
to  disregard,  if  “the  fields  are  white  for  harvest.”  We 
are  convinced  that  the  Presbyterian  form  of  our  Church 
would  present  no  obstacle,  and  especially  that  the  want 
of  a  liturgy  would  rather  be  an  advantage  than  other¬ 
wise.  It  is  the  expressed  feeling  of  many  among  the 
Jewish  converts  that  a  liturgy  reminds  them  of  their 
former  bondage.  The  field  is  nearly  unoccupied,  and 
yet  it  is  most  inviting.  We  would  look  for  interesting 
results  from  the  efforts  and  prayers  of  thorough  Christian 
labourers  in  this  place,  who  would  not  needlessly  offend 
Jewish  prejudices  on  the  one  hand,  and  who,  on  the  other, 
would  be  as  far  from  trifling  with  the  awful  truths  of  the 
Gospel,  by  letting  men  suppose  themselves  Christians 
on  any  other  ground  than  thorough  conversion.  Oh  that 
another  Barnabas  could  be  sent  to  Smyrna,  and  another 
Apollos,  fervent  in  spirit,  and  instructed  in  the  way  of  the 
Lord! 

Smyrna  must  ever  possess  attractions  to  all  who  are 
interested  in  ancient  Asia,  or  in  the  churches  of  the  East. 
Being  the  chief  city  of  this  region  because  of  its  com¬ 
merce,  it  forms  a  very  important  centre  for  missionary 
labour.  There  are,  accordingly,  missionaries  from  sev¬ 
eral  societies  established  in  it.  With  one  of  these,  Mr. 
Jetter,  from  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  we  became 
intimately  acquainted  during  our  stay  at  Bouja,  and  re¬ 
ceived  much  interesting  information  from  him.  He  told 
us  that  the  messengers  of  the  gospel  have  carried  on  their 


336  THE  SEVEN  CHURCHES— SMYRNA— PERGAMOS. 

labours  in  this  part  of  the  world  for  thirty  years ;  and 
yet  that  little  success  has  attended  them.  Not  a  single 
instance  of  the  conversion  of  a  Mahometan  has  occurred. 
The  eye  of  man  can  discern  few  real  followers  of  the 
Lamb  among  native  Christians,  whether  of  Greek  or 
Armenian  churches,  in  Smyrna.  But  to  revive  the  truth 
among  them  is  the  main  effort  of  all  the  missionaries  that 
have  laboured  here.  The  Spirit  seems  at  present  with¬ 
held,  and  the  opposition  of  man  is  great. 

We  repeatedly  sought  for  information  in  regard  to 
“  the  seven  churches  of  Asia,”  though  we  had  no  oppor¬ 
tunity  of  visiting  any  of  them  but  Smyrna.  In  regard  to 
Smyrna,  we  have  already  given  some  details.  It  has  a 
population  of  120,000,  of  whom  9000  are  Jews,  1000 
Europeans,  8000  Armenians,  and  perhaps  20,000  Greeks. 
Many  of  the  latter  are  falling  under  the  sway  of  Rome. 
The  Armenians  and  Greeks  form  the  nominal  church  of 
Smyrna,  the  degenerate  successors  of  the  tried  but  richly 
endowed  Christians  of  the  days  of  John;  yet  it  is  the 
most  flourishing  of  all  the  cities  where  the  seven  churches 
stood,  perhaps  because  God  remembers  his  faithful  wi< 
nesses  who  here  poured  out  their  blood  for  his  cause 
May  it  not  be  for  a  similar  reason  that  Pergamos ,  where 
Antipas  was  his  faithful  martyr,  is  still  a  prosperous  town  1 
It  is  now  called  Bergamo,  and  contains  1500  Greeks,  and 
200  Armenians,  amidst  13,000  Mahometans.  It  is  the  only 
town  of  the  seven  besides  Smyrna  that  retains  any  Jew¬ 
ish  population ;  and  of  these  it  has  a  hundred.  There 
are  in  it  remains  of  an  ancient  church  called  St.  John’s, 
and  many  extensive  ruins  of  theatres,  temples,  and 
walls.  It  stands  in  a  magnificent  plain,  with  a  strong 
acropolis,  occupying  a  majestic  hill  above  the  city.  This 
was  the  place  where  “  Satan  had  his  seat,”  commanding 
the  whole  of  the  gay  and  rich  city  at  his  will,  more  ef¬ 
fectually  than  did  the  frowning  battlements  of  the  acro¬ 
polis.  It  was  the  most  warlike  of  all  the  cities,  being  the 
capital  of  the  kingdom  of  Attalus,  and  hence  is  addressed 
in  a  warlike  strain  by  him  who  had  the  sharp  two-edged 
sword.* 

Ephesus,  on  the  other  hand,  has  disappeared  from 
being  a  city,  and  its  “  candlestick  is  quite  removed  out  of 
its  place.”  It  is  not  the  ruins  called  Aisaluk  which  mark 
the  true  site,  but  some  remains  near  that  spot,  at  the  foot 
of  the  hills  Corissus  and  Prion.  This  latter  hill  is  said 


*  Rev.  ii.  12. 


THYATIRA — PHILADELPHIA. 


337 


to  be  the  burying-place  of  Timothy,  and  the  place  where 
the  Seven  Sleepers  enjoyed  their  long  repose.  There 
are  traces  of  a  stadium  700  feet  long,  and  of  a  large 
theatre,  no  doubt  the  same  as  that  into  which  “  the  mul¬ 
titude  rushed  with  one  accord.”  *  But  there  are  no  re¬ 
mains  of  the  temple  of  the  great  goddess  Diana,  silver 
models  of  which,  mentioned  under  the  name  of  “  shrines, ”f 
used  to  be  cast  and  sold  to  her  votaries.  Each  pillar  of 
this  temple  was  a  single  shaft  of  pure  Parian  marble, 
and  the  whole  building  cost  the  labour  of  220  years,  yet 
all  is  now  buried  out  of  sight  under  the  soil.  A  few  pea¬ 
sants,  all  of  them  Mahometans,  have  their  huts  here. 
God  has  left  the  city ;  for  “  its  salt  had  lost  its  savour.” 
The  fervent  love  of  Onesiphorus,j;  was  not  imitated  in 
the  next  generation.  Paul’s  glowing  words  to  “  the 
saints  which  were  at  Ephesus,”  exhibiting  Christ’s  love 
in  order  to  keep  theirs  alive,  were  forgotten.  §  The  elders 
did  not  imitate  his  tears  and  labours  ;||  the  hearts  of  the 
people  were  no  more  stirred  by  the  fervour  of  Apollos  :1T 
and  even  the  Epistle  from  Patmos,  and  the  residence 
among  them  of  the  beloved  disciple  till  the  day  of  his 
death,  could  not  prevent  their  falling  from  their  “  first 
love.”  All  her  faithful  ones  have  long  ago  been  removed 
to  “  eat  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  life  that  is  in  the  midst 
of  the  Paradise  of  God.”  ** 

Thyatira,  called  now  Akhisar,  or  “white  castle,” 
stands  in  a  plain  embosomed  in  groves,  and  is  still,  as  in 
former  days,  a  busy  scene  of  manufactures.  The  dyers 
of  the  town  are  noticed  in  ancient  inscriptions,  and  our 
friend  Mr.  Calhoun  had  very  lately  verified  what  has 
been  observed  by  other  travellers,  that  to  this  day  the 
best  scarlet  dye  in  all  Asia  is  produced  here,  and  sent  to 
Smyrna  and  other  places  for  sale.  Lydia’s  occupation!! 
remains  characteristic  of  the  place  to  this  day.  Two 
churches,  one  belonging  to  the  Greeks,  the  other  to  the 
Armenians,  keep  up  the  memory,  though  they  do  not  re¬ 
tain  the  living  faith,  of  the  primitive  Christians. 

Philadelphia  is  now  called  Alah-Sher,  “  the  high  city, 
or  city  of  beauty,”  because  of  its  splendid  situation  in  the 
midst  of  gardens  and  vineyards,  with  the  heights  of 
Tmolus  overhanging  it,  and  in  front  one  of  the  finest 
plains  in  Asia.  Its  comparatively  retired  situation  might 
be  one  of  the  means  used  by  God  in  fulfilling  the  promise, 

*  Acts  xix.  29.  t  Acts  xix.  24.  t  2  Tim.  i.  18. 

$  Eph.  iii.  18,  19.  II  Acts  xx.  31.  V  Acts  xviii.  25 

**  Rev.  ii.  7.  +t  Acts  xvi.  14, 


338 


SARDIS — LAODICEA. 


“  I  will  keep  thee  from  the  hour  of  temptation  that  shall 
come  upon  all  the  world.”  *  It  has  five  Greek  churches, 
and  its  one  solitary  ancient  pillar  has  been  often  noticed, 
reminding  beholders  of  the  promise,  “Him  that  over- 
cometh  will  I  make  a  pillar  in  the  temple  of  my  God,  and 
he  shall  go  no  more  out.”f  Mr.  Calhoun  remarked  that 
the  Greek  Christians  there  were  peculiarly  hospitable,  as 
if  “brotherly  love”  ^iXa&A^ia,  were  the  characteristic 
of  the  place  in  reality  as  well  as  in  name. 

Sardis,  now  Sart,  has  no  Christians  even  in  name. 
Pliny  Fisk  found  one  Greek  at  the  spot,  who  was  so 
true  a  Sardian,  “  having  a  name  to  live  while  he  was 
dead,”  that  he  was  using  the  Lord’s  day  for  grinding  his 
corn.  All  that  were  worthy  have  long  since  gone  to 
walk  with  Christ  in  white,!  and  have  left  no  successors. 
It  stood  partly  on  a  hill ;  the  river  Pactolus  flowed  through 
its  forum.  Among  its  many  ruins,  two  ancient  churches 
can  be  traced — perhaps  remnants  of  those  edifices  within 
whose  walls  the  throng  of  formal  worshippers — who  had 
only  “  a  name  to  live” — used  to  assemble. 

Laodicea ,  now  Eski-hissar,  or  “old  castle,”  stands 
upon  a  hill.  Some  interpreters  discover  a  literal  fulfil¬ 
ment  of  the  words,  “  I  will  spue  thee  out  of  my  mouth, 
in  the  earthquakes  which  often  occur  here,  and  the  fire 
that  then  bursts  up  from  the  ground.  But  even  the  utter 
emptiness  of  a  place  once  so  populous,  is  an  exact  ful¬ 
filment  of  the  threatening  on  the  city ;  though  it  is  only 
that  eye  which  penetrates  the  shades  of  death,  and  sees 
the  self-satisfied  Laodicean  cast  out  as  vile  into  utter 
darkness,  that  can  discern  how  full  has  been  the  accom¬ 
plishment.  It  has  remains  of  three  theatres,  and  of  a 
circus  that  could  contain  30,000  people — places,  perhaps, 
occasionally  visited  by  the  lukewarm  Christians  there, 
who  saw  not  the  sin  of  tasting  the  world’s  gaieties, 
while  they  also  “  drank  the  cup  of  the  Lord.”  In  Paul’s 
days,  they  were  a  people  separate  from  the  world,  a 
people  for  whom  he  had  much  wrestling  in  prayer  ;||  but 
the  current  of  the  world  was  too  strong  for  the  genera¬ 
tion  that  succeeded. 

Besides  these  seven  churches,  we  find  in  Scripture 
mention  made  of  Hierapolis, IT  seen  from  one  of  the  ruined 
theatres  of  Laodicea,  now  Pambouk  Kalasi,  i.  e.  “  cotton 

*  Rev.  iii.  10.  t  Rev.  iii.  12.  t  Rev.  iii.  4. 

§  Rev.  iii  16.  I)  Col.  ii.  1 ;  iv.  15,  16.  11  Col.  iv.  13. 


POPULATION  OF  ASIA  MINOR. 


33S 


tower,”  in  allusion  to  the  white  rocks  on  which  it  is  built, 
without  a  single  Christian  inhabitant.  Colosse  is  now 
called  Konas,  where  a  band  of  about  thirty  Greek  Chris¬ 
tians  are  found.  Antioch  of  Pisidtia ,  now  Isbirta,  is  a 
town  remarked  as  being  peculiarly  supplied  with  gush¬ 
ing  fountains,  and  still  possesses  several  Greek  churches. 
Tarsus ,  the  birth-place  of  Saul,  is  said  to  be  a  poor  de¬ 
cayed  town.  Iconium  is  well  known  under  the  name 
Konieh,  and  is  a  flourishing  city ;  but  Derbe ,  the  birth¬ 
place  of  Gaius  and  of  Timothy*  and  Lystra,  where  Paul 
was  stoned,  have  not  yet  been  described  by  any  traveller. 

Immorality  has  awfully  increased  among  the  Mahome¬ 
tans,  and  indeed  among  all  classes  of  the  community 
throughout  Asiatic  Turkey  ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  the 
depopulation  of  the  empire  has  been  going  on  rapidly. 
This  decay  is  proved  by  the  multitude  of  burying-grounds 
throughout  the  country,  that  have  now  no  village  exist¬ 
ing  near  them.  During  the  year  1838,  the  plague,  small¬ 
pox,  and  other  diseases,  carried  off  most  of  the  children 
in  Asia  Minor  under  two  years  of  age.  In  one  part  of 
the  plain  of  Cayster,  where  300  yoke  of  oxen  used  to  be 
employed,  the  ground  is  now  tilled  by  only  twelve.  A 
village  near  Smyrna,  including  the  Aga’s  house,  and  1200 
acres  of  land,  was  lately  offered  for  sale  for  20,000  pias¬ 
tres,  a  sum  equal  to  200/.  In  fact,  the  country  is  drained 
of  its  inhabitants,  by  the  frequent  draughts  on  their 
young  men  to  serve  in  the  army.  The  Governors  com¬ 
plain  that  they  cannot  get  people  for  any  service.  Every 
thing  indicates  that  the  strength  of  the  empire  is  gone, 
and  that  the  time  is  at  hand  when  “  the  waters  of  the 
great  river  Euphrates  shall  be  dried  up.”  f  This  state 
of  things  has  contributed  very  much  to  direct  the  atten¬ 
tion  of  English  Christians  in  Turkey  to  the  study  of  pro¬ 
phecy,  and  to  make  them  watch  every  new  sign  of  “  the 
way  of  the  kings  of  the  east  being  prepared,”  and  the 
glorious  events  that  are  to  follow.  Few,  however,  of 
our  American  brethren  there  have  been  led  to  take  any 
deep  interest  in  these  views. 

With  our  friends  at  Bouja  we  enjoyed  many  pleasant 
and  profitable  walks,  breathing  the  soft  “Ionian  air.” 
The  whole  district  is  interesting.  Mount  Corax  rises  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  village,  and  beyond  this  range 
appear  in  the  distance  the  splendid  heights  of  Tmolus, 
now  called  Bous-dag.  On  the  north  is  Mount  Sipylus, 


*  Acts  xx.  4. 


t  Rev.  xvi.  12. 


340 


ENVIRONS  OP  SMYRNA. 


at  whose  feet  stood  the  town  of  Magnesia,*  where  Anti¬ 
och  us  met  with  a  signal  defeat.  South  of  Bouja,  and  not 
far  off,  rises  the  range  of  Dactyle ;  and  from  a  rising 
ground  may  be  seen  Sedikoy,  a  village  on  the  direct  road 
to  Ephesus.  The  road  from  Bouja  to  Smyrna  is  exceed¬ 
ingly  pleasant,  through  a  fine  valley  called  the  Valley  of 
St.  Ann.  Two  tiers  of  ruined  arches  remain,  which  an¬ 
ciently  formed  an  aqueduct  across  it ;  and  many  other 
ruins  indicate  how  great  the  extent  of  Smyrna  must  have 
been  in  other  days,  when  it  was  the  crown  of  Ionia.  The 
valley  is  adorned  with  fine  old  olive-trees,  and  many  red 
Turkish  villas,  and  there  is  a  beautiful  view  of  the  bay 
and  mountains  on  the  other  side.  Approaching  Smyrna, 
you  cross  the  Caravan  bridge,  thrown  over  a  narrow 
and  shallow  stream.  This  stream  is  the  ancient  river 
Meles,  on  whose  banks  Homer  is  said  to  have  been  born, 
and  from  which  he  got  the  name  “  blind  Melesigenes.” 
A  cave  is  shown  where,  it  is  said,  he  used  to  seek  retire¬ 
ment.  Water  flows  in  this  channel  during  all  the  sum¬ 
mer,  but  its  course  is  very  short ;  its  source  being  in  the 
neighbouring  hills,  from  which  it  flows  through  the  town 
into  the  sea.  The  most  picturesque  object  about  Smyrna 
is  the  splendid  grove  of  cypresses  which  wave  over  the 
large  Turkish  burying-ground,  near  the  town.  These 
handsome  trees  shoot  up  majestically  to  the  sky,  and 
cast  their  dark  shade  around.  Beneath  them,  as  far  as 
the  eye  can  reach  through  the  sombre  light  of  the  grove, 
are  innumerable  small  figures  above  the  graves.  These 
are  short  pillars  about  two  feet  high,  (reminding  one  of 
the  figure  of  the  Roman  god  Terminus,)  on  whose  top  is 
carved  the  head  of  the  deceased,  with  the  coloured  tur¬ 
ban  or  fez  that  characterized  him  in  his  lifetime.  The 
most  frequent  colours  are  red  and  yellow.  Those  paint¬ 
ed  green  cover  the  graves  of  Moslems  who  were  descend¬ 
ants  of  the  prophet.  The  inscriptions  on  the  tombs  are 
commonly  written  in  an  oblique  direction,  for  the  conve¬ 
nience  of  the  passer  by,  that  his  eye  may  more  easily  run 
along  the  lines.  Many  of  them  are  adorned  with  gilding, 
reminding  us  of  the  practice  of  the  Pharisees,  “  Ye  gar¬ 
nish  the  sepulchres  of  the  righteous.”  f  Mahometans 
never  bury  more  than  one  body  in  a  grave,  so  that  the 


*  Dr.  Keith  visited  this  town  during  the  few  days  that  he  and  Dr 
Black  spent  in  Asia  Minor,  and  there  he  met  with  an  interesting  young 
Jew.  who  seemed  in  search  of  the  truth. 

T  Matt,  xxiii.  29, 


SMYRNA — STREETS. 


341 


number  of  gravestones  is  immense.  At  such  a  spot  there 
is  awful  solemnity  in  the  thought  of  the  resurrection, 
when  those  myriads  of  sleeping  dead,  who  once  worship¬ 
ped  the  false  prophet  in  their  blindness,  shall  “  hear  the 
voice  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  come  forth.” 

We  used  to  enter  the  city  by  a  street  which  is  watered 
by  a  branch  of  the  Meles,  or  an  artificial  canal  supplied 
from  it.  In  this  street  the  water  occupies  the  place  of 
the  causeway;  trees  grow  on  each  side  of  it;  and  the 
houses  are  behind  the  trees.  Coolness  is  thus  secured 
to  the  inhabitants  at  all  hours  of  the  day.  We  thought 
of  the  street,  river,  and  trees  mentioned  in  Revelation  ;* 
and  of  the  words  of  David,  “  There  is  a  river,  the  streams 
whereof  shall  make  glad  the  city  of  God.”f  The  con¬ 
stant  peace  and  refreshment  afforded  by  God’s  love  and 
favour  are  faintly  shadowed  forth  by  these  images,  which 
an  Eastern  could  fully  appreciate.  In  one  street  we 
passed  a  fountain,  erected  by  some  benevolent  Mahome¬ 
tan  long  ago,  as  the  Turkish  inscription  indicates.  The 
water  gushes  plentifully  into  a  trough ;  and  for  the  grea¬ 
ter  convenience  of  passengers,  there  is  a  large  spoon¬ 
like  cup  attached  to  the  well  by  a  chain.  No  one  injures 
or  thinks  of  removing  this.  The  “  bowl  is  not  broken, 
nor  its  cord  loosed”!  at  the  fountain.  The  houses  are 
built  sometimes  after  the  Italian  and  sometimes  after  the 
Eastern  fashion.  A  luxuriant  vine  is  ofttimes  trained 
over  the  portico,  and  a  spreading  fig-tree  occupies  the 
middle  of  the  court.  The  inhabitants  need  every  such 
means  of  refreshment,  for  the  town  in  summer  is  very 
hot.  There  is,  however,  a  pleasant  breeze  called  Inbat 
(that  is  tpSans,  “incoming”)  which  generally  visits  the 
town  in  the  afternoon,  and  affords  a  time  for  refreshment 
in  the  hottest  part  of  the  season. 

In  one  of  our  walks,  Mr.  Riggs  gave  us  some  illustra¬ 
tions  of  Scripture  from  what  he  had  seen  in  Greece. 
There  every  shepherd  uses  a  large  wooden  crook,  with 
which  he  guides  and  defends  the  sheep.  This  is  the  shep¬ 
herd’s  rod  mentioned  in  the  Psalm  and  by  the  prophet.  §  It 
is  a  common  mode  of  expression  among  the  Greeks  to 
say  “  such  a  thing  happened  three  days  ago”  when  they 
mean  that  a  day  only  intervened.  They  include  the  two 
extreme  days,  as  if  they  had  been  complete, — a  mode  of 
speech  which  illustrates  the  words  of  our  Lord  in  Matt. 

t  Ps.  xlvi.  4. 

§  Ps.  xxiii.  4.  Mic.  vii.  14 


*  Rev.  xxii.  2. 
t  Eccl.  xii.  6. 


31 


34*2 


MISSIONARY  PROSPECTS— SMYRNA. 


xii.  40,  “  The  Son  of  Man  shall  be  three  days  and  three 
nights  in  the  heart  of  the  earth.”  Throughout  all  Greece 
the  natives  seldom  take  any  food  before  eleven  o’clock, 
at  which  hour  they  have  dpiarov ,  which  we  translate  din¬ 
ner ;  then  about  eight  or  nine  in  the  evening,  they  have 
fcnrvov  or  supper,  which  is  the  chief  meal.  This  explains 
the  invitation  of  our  Lord  to  the  disciples  on  the  Lake 
of  Galilee,  “Jesus  saith  unto  them,  Come  and  dine”* 
that  is,  come  and  partake  of  the  morning  meal. 

On  another  occasion  Mr.  Riggs  gave  us  his  views  in 
regard  to  the  prospects  of  Missionaries  in  this  part  of 
Turkey.  Their  chief  discouragement  is  the  want  of  any 
opportunities  of  speaking  freely  to  the  natives,  either 
Greeks  or  Armenians,  on  the  things  of  eternity ;  a  pain¬ 
ful  state  of  things,  brought  about  by  the  watchful  jeal¬ 
ousy  of  the  priests.  In  Turkey,  the  priesthood  have  far 
greater  influence  over  the  people  than  they  have  in  the 
new  kingdom  of  Greece.  The  Patriarch  is  allowed  by 
the  Turkish  Government  to  do  what  he  pleases,  so  that 
he  may  use  his  arbitrary  power  to  procure  the  death  of 
any  persons  opposed  to  his  authority.  In  Greece,  how¬ 
ever,  Mr.  Riggs  found  that  at  Napoli,  where  he  was  for¬ 
merly  stationed,  and  indeed  throughout  the  whole  king¬ 
dom,  the  Greeks  are  far  less  under  the  control  of  their 
priests,  and  are  often  anxious  to  be  taught  the  truth. 
Occasionally  at  Napoli  the  Bishops  came  to  hear  the 
preaching  of  the  word,  and  a  few  of  them  seemed  to  have 
real  concern  for  their  own  souls.  There  is  nothing  of 
this  kind  in  Turkey.  The  candlestick  has  been  entirely 
removed  from  Smyrna,  as  far  as  vital  religion  among 
the  Greek  Christians  is  concerned.  They  are  thieves, 
liars,  and  immoral  in  a  thousand  ways.  The  American 
Missionaries  print  a  Penny  Magazine  in  the  Greek  and 
Armenian  languages,  which  has  a  considerable  circula¬ 
tion  ;  but  this  is  an  instrument  of  little  value  in  the  way 
of  saving  the  souls  of  the  people,  as  its  pages  contain 
only  general  and  scientific  information. 

On  Saturday  morning  (Aug.  9),  in  company  with  Mr. 
Riggs,  we  enjoyed  a  pleasant  walk  up  the  hill  that  rises 
behind  the  city,  where  are  ruins  of  the  old  castle,  and 
where,  in  the  opinion  of  many,  was  the  original  site  of 
Smyrna.  We  visited  the  Stadium,  where  Polycarp  was 
martyred  for  the  truth,  A.  D.  167.  It  stands  on  the 


*  John  xxi.  12.  See  original  dpiamaarc' 


GRAVE  OF  POLYCARP — VIEW  OF  SMYRNA. 


343 


face  of  a  hill,  the  sides  of  a  concave  valley  forming  a 
natural  amphitheatre  for  the  accommodation  of  spec¬ 
tators.  The  space  may  be  about  500  feet  long  on  each 
side,  at  either  end  of  which  rose  the  seats  for  the  specta¬ 
tors.  Near  it  is  a  range  of  broken  arches,  which  formed 
part  of  the  vaults  where  the  wild  beasts  were  kept. 
From  one  of  these  the  people  urged  the  Asiarch  to  let 
loose  a  lion  against  Polycarp.  In  the  midst  of  this  sta¬ 
dium,  the  aged  man  of  God  was  fixed  to  a  stake,  and  the 
fire  kindled  around  him ;  but  the  flame  leaving  him  un¬ 
consumed,  he  was  despatched  by  the  sword  of  the  Roman 
confector.  This  very  stadium  was  the  spot  whence  his 
soul  ascended  up  to  heaven,  “receiving  his  portion,” 
according  to  his  own  prayer,  “  in  the  number  of  mar¬ 
tyrs  in  the  cup  of  Christ.”  After  serving  his  Lord,  and 
directing  his  flock  “  by  his  step  as  well  as  by  his  voice  ” 
during  eighty  and  six  years,  he  was  found  faithful  unto 
death,  and  received  the  crown  of  life.  *  The  Epistle  to 
the  Church  of  Smyrna  was  to  us  doubly  interesting  now. 
A  voice  seemed  still  to  echo  round  the  spot,  “Fear  none 
of  those  things  which  thou  shalt  suffer !”  A  grave  close 
by,  over  which  a  tall  cypress  grows,  is  said  to  be  the 

grave  of  Polycarp.  . 

In  the  narrative  of  the  martyrdom  given  in  the  Epistle 
by  the  Church  of  Smyrna,  it  is  recorded  that  the  Jews 
distinguished  themselves  by  gathering  fuel  for  the  pile; 
and  it°is  a  singular  fact,  coinciding  with  this  notice,  that 
at  present  the  Jewish  quarter  lies  close  under  the  hill 
where  the  stadium  stands,  and  the  Jews  are  much  em¬ 
ployed  in  gathering  and  selling  torch-wood. 

We  wandered  on  to  the  ruins  of  a  theatre.  A  fine 
arch,  forming  the  gateway,  remains  in  tolerable  preser¬ 
vation.  We  could  distinctly  trace  the  walls, ,  that  en¬ 
closed  a  wide  circular  space ;  and  near  the  stadium  some 
remains  of  the  ancient  wall  of  the  town  are  still  found. 
Part  of  the  castle  also  is  of  great  antiquity,  and  on  the 
hill  to  the  south  of  it  is  the  Temple  of  Esculapius. 

The  prospect  from  this  hill  is  very  splendid.  The  town 
below  is  seen  to  the  greatest  advantage.  The  houses  are 
mostly  red-tiled,  butlhe  tall  dark  cypress  grove,  and  the 
clusters  of  the  same  tree  shooting  up  in  different  quar¬ 
ters,  with  the  calm  sea  beyond,  give  the  town  a  rich  and 
noble  appearance.  There  is  a  full  view  up  to  the  very 
top  of  the  gulf,  with  Bournabat  and  other  villages  on  the 


*  Rev.  ii.  10. 


344 


GREEK  CHURCH. 


opposite  side.  In  the  distance,  the  island  of  Lesbos  is 
discernible,  and  the  place  where  the  Hermus  enters  the 
sea,  at  the  head  of  the  gulf.  On  our  way  back  to  town 
we  overheard  a  curious  conversation. — Two  boys  came 
along,  one  riding  upon  an  ass,  the  other  running  by  his 
side."  The  one  on  foot  was  eagerly  pressing  his  com¬ 
panion  to  let  him  mount  the  animal  for  a  little  while, 
offering  as  an  inducement,  “  that,  if  he  did  so,  he  would 
pray  for  the  souls  of  his  deceased  mother  and  sister.” 
The  boy  on  the  ass  agreed,  on  condition  that  he  would 
remember  the  soul  of  his  little  brother  also.  At  the 
gate  some  Tattars  with  public  despatches  were  riding 
out  very  merrily.  On  a  wall  we  saw  an  ancient  Greek 
inscription  which  has  been  often  noticed,  but  is  of 
little  importance.  A  labourer  was  returning  from  the 
country  with  his  pruning-hook  in  his  hand,  a  long  piece 
of  iron  curved  toward  the  point.  This  pruning-hook 
might  once  have  been  a  spear,  and  could  easily  be  con¬ 
verted  into  one  again.  The  prophets  attended  to  the 
nature  of  things  when  they  said,  “  They  shall  beat  their 
spears  into  pruning-hooks *  and  again,  reversing  the 
command,  “Beat  your  pruning-hooks  into  spears.” f 
We  entered  one  of  the  Greek  churches  at  the  time  when 
the  people  were  assembling  for  worship;  for  all  the 
Eastern  churches  begin  their  Sabbath  at  six  on  the 
Saturday  evening.  The  worshippers  were  summoned 
together,  not  by  the  ringing  of  bells  (for  this  privilege 
is  not  enjoyed  by  any  of  the  Christians  here  except 
the  Roman  Catholics),  but  by  beating  time  on  a  plank 
of  wood,  somewhat  in  the  same  way  in  which  our 
workmen  in  towns  are  summoned  to  their  meals.  As 
the  people  entered  one  by  one,  they  kissed  the  pictures 
on  the  wall  of  the  church,  and  crossed  themselves  with 
three  fingers.  Near  another  church  we  met  many  Ar¬ 
menians  on  their  way  to  worship.  The  most  remarkable 
part  of  their  costume  is  the  head-dress  worn  by  the  men, 
called  the  kalpack.  It  is  like  a  four-cornered  cushion 
surmounting  their  cap,  and  appears  very  singular  to  a 
stranger. 

On  reaching  our  dwelling,  we  received  intelligence  of 
an  awful  conflagration  which  had  taken  place  in  Constan¬ 
tinople,  by  which  30,000  or  40,000  persons,  it  was  said,  had 
been  made  houseless.  We  were  the  more  interested  in 
this  information,  as  we  were  making  preparations  for 


*  Isa.  ii.  4. 


t  Joel  iii.  10. 


SAIL  FROM  SMYRNA. 


345 


visiting  that  great  city.  During  the  second  week  of  our 
stay  at  Bouja,  Mr.  M‘Cheyne’s  health  was  much  improv¬ 
ed;  yet  it  was  thought  advisable  that  Mr.  Bonar  and 
Mr.  Caiman  should  leave  him,  in  the  mean  time,  under 
the  care  of  our  kind  friends,  and  should  themselves  pro¬ 
ceed  together  to  Constantinople  by  the  first  steamer,  to 
carry  on  their  inquiries  there,  till  by  the  blessing  of  God 
their  brother  should  be  enabled  to  join  them. 

It  was  not  without  melancholy  apprehensions  that  we 
parted  for  a  season,  and  with  unfeigned  regret  we  took 
leave  of  our  truly  kind  and  never-to-be-forgotten  friends 
at  Bouja.  But,  remembering  how  the  Lord  had  helped 
us  hitherto,  we  trusted  Him  again,  and  went  forward. 

In  the  afternoon  of  August  17,  we  embarked  in  an 
Austrian  steamer  called  the  Stamboul.  On  the  deck,  we 
found  ourselves  in  the  midst  of  people  of  all  nations,  but 
the  most  were  Turkish  soldiers,  and  Greek  and  Arme¬ 
nian  merchants.  Many  Turkish  women  sat  apart  with 
their  faces  veiled,  and  a  group  of  poor  Israelites  were 
seated  between  the  cabin  door  and  window,  a  part  of  the 
vessel  so  frequently  occupied  by  Jews,  that  we  began  to 
call  it  the  Jewish  quarter.  Pacing  up  and  down  the 
deck  were  two  American  officers,  belonging  to  a  vessel 
near  at  hand;  next  were  three  Englishmen,  then  two 
Maltese,  some  Germans,  and  two  or  three  Frenchmen. 
The  engineers  were  from  our  own  land,  one  an  Irishman 
and  the  other  a  Scotchman,  and  both  had  their  wives  on 
board  with  them.  A  Hungarian,  with  a  large  beard  and 
whiskers,  and  a  broad  brimmed  hat,  kept  himself  in  per¬ 
petual  motion.  Three  Moors  also,  and  four  Persians, 
who  wore  high  sugar-loaf  caps,  attracted  our  attention, 
and  still  more,  two  Turkish  Dervishes,  marked  by  their 
conical  white  hats.  There  was  something  indescribably 
saddening  in  the  thought  which  often  rose  in  our  mind, 
that  of  all  this  company  perhaps  not  one  knew  the  Sa¬ 
viour.  There  is  a  “veil  spread  over  all  nations.”  Yet 
in  such  a  state  of  things  is  the  light  suddenly  to  shoot 
from  Zion  over  the  whole  world,  “  For,  behold,  the  dark¬ 
ness  shall  cover  the  earth,  and  gross  darkness  the  peo¬ 
ple  :  but  the  Lord  shall  arise  upon  thee,  and  his  glory 
shall  be  seen  upon  thee ;  and  the  Gentiles  shall  come  to 
thy  light,  and  kings  to  the  brightness  of  thy  rising.”  * 

(Aug.  18.  Sabbath.)  About  three  in  the  morning  we 
were  off  Lesbos ,  now  called  Mytilin,  where  Sappho  and 


*  Isa.  lx.  2,  3. 

31  * 


346  TENEDOS— ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  FLEETS. 

Alcaeus  sang.  The  vessel  anchored  for  a  short  time  in 
the  harbour  of  the  town,  Mytilin — perhaps  the  very  har¬ 
bour  where  Paul’s  vessel  anchored  in  its  voyage.*  In 
about  an  hour  and  a  half  we  were  opposite  Cape  Baba, 
the  ancient  Lectum.  It  is  the  extreme  point  of  the  Ida 
range,  and  one  of  the  hills  within  our  view  was  that  re¬ 
nowned  Ida ,  which  looked  down  upon  the  Trojan  plains. 
It  is  impossible  to  sail  along  this  shore  without  being 
irresistibly  attracted  by  scenes  that  have  excited  the  in¬ 
terest  of  thousands  in  every  land.  Many  an  eye  has 
gazed  on  these  hills  and  plains,  and  many  a  foot  explored 
these  ruins.  Yet  there  is  to  a  Christian  another  and  a 
more  delightful  feeling  called  forth,  by  the  thought  that 
Paul  walked  on  footf  from  Troas  to  Assos,  along  the 
sands  of  that  sea-shore,  meditating  on  “  the  depth  of  the 
riches  both  of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  God.”  To¬ 
ward  the  top  of  this  same  gulf  stood  Adramyttium,\  one 
of  whose  vessels  bore  Paul  to  the  coast  of  Lycia  in  his 
voyage  to  Rome. 

About  seven  a.  m.  we  were  opposite  the  Island  of  Tene- 
dos,  and  our  early  classical  recollections  came  here  fresh 
to  mind — 

Est  in  conspectu  Tenedos,  notissima  farm 
Insula,  dives  opum,  Priami  dum  regna  manebant.§ 

(“  In  sight  of  Troy  lies  Tenedos,  an  isle, 

While  fortune  did  on  Priam’s  kingdom  smile, 

Renowned  for  wealth.”) 

It  is  six  miles  from  the  coast  of  Troy,  and  is  consider¬ 
ably  elevated  above  the  sea,  rising  at  the  north-west  ex¬ 
tremity  into  an  eminence.  At  the  time  we  passed,  many 
vessels  lay  at  anchor  wind-bound,  and  unable  to  enter 
the  Dardanelles.  We  continued  sailing  along  the  coast 
off  Troas,  the  morning  being  calm  and  cool,  with  a  bright 
sunshine,  and  a  deep  blue  sky.  Soon  we  found  ourselves 
in  the  midst  of  the  combined  English  and  French  fleets, 
consisting  of  about  twenty  ships  of  the  line, — more  ma¬ 
jestic  than  those  of  Greece,  which  once  carried  its  thou¬ 
sand  warriors  to  Ilium.  They  lay  there  watching  the 
movements  of  Russia  on  Constantinople.  The  large 
island  of  Lemnos  was  toward  the  west  on  our  left,  and 
before  us  to  the  north-west  Imbros,  behind  which  lies 
Samothrace.y  But  still  a  deeper  interest  was  excited  in 

Acts  xx.  14.  t  Acts  xx.  13.  t  Acts  xxvii.  2. 

Virg.  ^En.  ii,  21.  II  Acts  xvi.  II. 


HELLESPONT—* SE3T0S  AND  ABYDOS. 


34  7 


our  mind  when  Eski-Stamboul  was  pointed  out-— the  site 
oi  Troas,  the  place  where  Paul  saw  in  a  vision  a  man 
of  Macedonia  that  said,  “Come  over  to  Macedonia 
(across  the  Algean  Sea)  and  help  us,”*  and  where  he 
preached  till  midnight  and  raised  Eutychus  from  the 
dead.  Here  also  was  the  residence  of  Carpus,  the  friend 
with  whom  Paul  left  his  cloak,  books,  and  parchments. f 
We  were  gazing  on  it  on  the  Sabbath-day,  “  the  first  day 
of  the  week,”|  and  the  remembrance  of  Paul’s  wondrous 
labours  there  helped  us  to  enjoy  this  blessed  day,  even 
when  so  far  removed  from  ordinances.  Very  near  this 
point  are  two  celebrated  promontories,  Rhceteum,  where 
Ajax  was  buried ;  and  Sigeum,  called  now  Jenesherry, 
where  Achilles  was  buried.  We  are  told  that  Alexander 
the  Great  stood  here  upon  the  tomb  of  that  hero,  and 
longed  for  another  Homer  to  record  his  own  deeds.  On 
the  plain  of  Troy  we  saw  two  of  the  ancient  tumuli,  each 
in  the  form  of  a  small  conical  hill ;  the  one  probably  that 
of  Antilochus,  the  other  that  of  Patroclus.  They  meel 
the  eye  like  “  wrecks  of  a  former  world.”  The  mouth 
of  the  Scamander,  and  the  point  of  its  junction  with  the 
Simois,  were  shown  to  us.  An  obliging  young  officer 
kindly  pointed  out  the  different  localities,  and  added,  that 
at  present  English  officers  might  be  found  fishing  every 
day  in  these  classical  streams. 

In  a  few  hours  we  entered  the  Hellespont ,  now  called 
the  Straits  of  the  Dardanelles,  and  passed  between  the 
far-famed  Sestos  and  Abyclos.  Near  this,  the  strait  is 
said  to  be  seven  stadia,  or  not  quite  a  mile  in  breadth, 
so  that  two  mighty  continents  seem  to  approach  and 
gaze  upon  each  other.  The  modern  castles  of  Romania 
and  Natolia,  which  have  come  in  place  of  the  ancient 
towns,  are  of  no  great  height;  their  situation  is  in  low 
ground  near  the  water-edge ;  but  under  skilful  manage¬ 
ment  their  command  of  the  strait  would  be  complete. 
Each  fortress  is  furnished  with  more  than  100  pieces  of 
cannon.  It  was  here  that  Leander  immortalised  himself 
by  his  adventurous  exploit.  It  was  here,  too,  that  Xerxes, 
the  king  that  “  stirred  up  all  against  the  realm  of  Gre- 
cia,”§  built  his  bridge  of  boats,  joining  Asia  to  Europe, 
in  order  to  transport  his  enormous  hosts.  When  he  sur¬ 
veyed  them  lining  the  shores  of  both  continents,  he  wept 
in  the  vexation  of  his  proud  heart,  because  in  a  hundred 
years  not  one  of  all  that  multitude  would  remain  to 

*  Acts  xvi.  8,  9.  t  2  Tim.  iv.  13. 

t  Acts  xx.  7.  $  Dari.  xi.  2. 


348  SEA  OF  MARMORA— VIEW  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE. 

swell  the  pomp  of  his  power.  How  unlike  the  tears  of 
Him  who  wept  over  perishing  Jerusalem  ! 

The  average  breadth  of  the  Dardanelles  is  three  miles, 
and  it  is  about  sixty  miles  long.  A  delightful  breeze  and 
a  smooth  sea  made  our  sail  pleasant  and  easy ;  and  we 
were  able  to  spend  much  of  the  day  in  retirement  and 
meditation.  While  we  were  reading  in  the  cabin,  two 
Turks  came  down  from  the  deck  to  pray,  spreading  out 
their  mat,  and  then  prostrating  themselves  to  the  ground 
repeatedly  till  their  head  touched  the  floor. 

Some  of  the  Jews  on  board  were  frank  and  simple. 
One  had  a  Hebrew  Bible  which  he  had  got  from  Mr.  Co¬ 
hen  at  Smyrna,  and  on  our  showing  them  our  Hebrew 
Bibles,  they  took  them  into  their  hands,  examined  them, 
and  then  held  up  some  of  the  leaves  between  them  and 
the  sun,  to  see  if  there  was  not  a  cross  stamped  on  the 
paper ! 

About  evening,  we  came  to  Gallipoli  (which  stands 
opposite  the  ancient  Lampsacus ),  not  in  itself  interest¬ 
ing,  but  it  gives  name  to  the  straits,  and  is  situated  not 
far  north  of  the  banks  of  the  stream  vEgospotamos,  at 
the  mouth  of  which  Lysander  gave  a  fatal  blow  to  the 
power  of  Athens.  The  Sea  of  Marmora,  the  ancient 
Propontis,  opened  upon  us ;  but  night  came  on,  and  we 
sailed  through  it  in  darkness. 

At  half-past  five  in  the  morning  we  came  in  sight  of 
Constantinople,  and  every  moment  as  we  advanced 
nearer  the  scene  broke  upon  us  with  increasing  magni¬ 
ficence.  The  situation  is  splendid.  Having  the  straits 
of  the  Dardanelles  for  its  gate  on  the  south,  and  the  Bos¬ 
phorus  for  its  gate  on  the  north,  it  could  rest  securely  on 
its  seven  hills,  and  look  around  on  all  its  prosperity  un¬ 
disturbed  by  the  fear  of  an  enemy.  The  morning  sky 
was  cloudy,  but  this  of  itself  was  delightful  to  us,  who 
had  scarcely  seen  a  cloud  for  nearly  four  months.  It 
was  like  a  pleasant  summer  morning  in  Scotland,  when 
the  mist  is  still  lying  on  the  hills,  and  the  clouds  are  ling¬ 
ering  on  the  face  of  the  heavens.  The  first  part  of  the 
city  "which  meets  the  view  upon  entering  the  Bosphorus 
from  the  south,  is  called  Stamboul.  Here  the  massy 
dome  of  St.  Sophia,  and  graceful  minarets  of  every  kind, 
crowd  upon  the  sight.  Palaces,  mosques,  and  baths, 
seem  to  be  without  number  in  this  renowned  capital. 
And  then  the  rich  verdant  trees  that  surround  so  many 
of  the  white  marble  buildings,  and  the  clear  blue  sea, 
which  like  a  deep  full  river  laves  the  shore  and  flows 


CONSTANTINOPLE — “THE  GOLDEN  HORN.”  349 

up  the  harbour,  combine  to  give  Constantinople  a  gor¬ 
geous  beauty,  which  is  perhaps  unrivalled  by  any  city 
in  the  world.  Old  Sandys  truly  says  of  the  view  from 
the  sea,  “  It  seemeth  to  present  a  city  in  a  wood  to  the 
pleased  beholders.”  We  anchored  in  the  well-known 
harbour  called  “the  Golden  Horn,”  so  called  from  its 
resemblance  to  the  shape  of  an  ox’s  horn,  and  this  so 
filled  with  merchandise  that  it  is  a  true  “  cornu  copiae.” 
It  is  so  deep  that  in  many  places  the  largest  vessels  (it  is 
said)  could  touch  the  houses  with  their  prows,  while  the 
stern  is  still  floating  in  the  water.  We  were  conveyed 
to  the  shore  in  a  caique ,  a  light  skiff,  in  breadth  generally 
three  feet,  and  above  twenty  in  length,  resembling  a  ca¬ 
noe,  hundreds  of  which  are  seen  shooting  along  in  all 
directions  with  amazing  swiftness.  We  landed  at  the 
part  of  the  city  called  Galata,  on  the  northern  side  of  the 
harbour,  intending  to  proceed  to  Pera,  and  there  to  take 
up  our  quarters  in  Romboli’s  inn,  to  which  we  had  been 
directed.  The  inn,  however,  was  already  more  than  full ; 
the  recent  conflagration  and  an  overflow  of  travellers 
having  united  to  fill  it,  so  that  no  vacancy  was  left  for 
us.  Alone  in  this  great  city,  we  allowed  a  young  man, 
a  Maltese,  to  guide  us  to  a  lodging  in  Galata,  two  por¬ 
ters  (here  called  hamals )  bearing  our  luggage.  It  was 
by  no  means  a  desirable  locality.  The  American  Mis¬ 
sionaries,  however,  Mr.  Goodell  and  Mr.  Calhoun,  on 
hearing  of  our  arrival,  sought  us  out  that  same  day,  and 
insisted  upon  our  taking  up  our  residence  with  them  in 
Pera.  These  American  brethren  and  tfteir  families  were 
full  of  kindness  and  brotherly  love ;  and  under  their  roof 
we  enjoyed  all  the  comforts  of  a  home.  From  their 
fellow-labourers  also,  Mr.  Adger  and  Mr.  Hamlin,  we  re¬ 
ceived  unremitting  attention. 

We  went  out  in  the  afternoon  to  visit  the  English  Con¬ 
sul,  riding  up  the  steep  streets  on  horseback,  as  the  day 
was  excessively  hot.  Somewhat  to  our  surprise,  the 
state  of  the  public  mind  in  the  city  was  calm ;  Ibraim 
Pasha’s  recent  victory  at  Nezib  had  made  no  impression. 
Indeed,  the  Turks  seem  to  take  every  thing  with  apathy. 
Sometimes  an  order  is  issued  on  occasions  of  political 
excitement,  forbidding  two  people  to  be  seen  together  in 
the  streets  talking  about  the  weather;  in  other  words, 
about  the  state  of  public  affairs.  But  at  this  time  there 
was  less  excitement  in  Constantinople  than  in  Smyrna, 
and  less  known  in  public  of  the  real  state  of  things. 


350  CONSTANTINOPLE — TURKISH  CARRIAGES. 

In  the  streets  we  noticed  the  Turkish  carriages  for 
ladies,  called  arabah ,  drawn  by  two  horses,  and  not 
much  raised  above  the  ground.  The  windows  have  no 
glass,  but  curtains,  resembling  veils.  Within,  it  is  said, 
the  sides  are  often  ornamented  with  mottoes  and  curious 
devices,  by  which  some  have  illustrated  the  description 
given  of  the  chariot  in  the  Song,  “  the  midst  thereof 
being  paved  with  love.”  *  Wagons  drawn  by  oxen  are 
as  common  on  the  streets  here  as  at  Smyrna.  W  e  saw 
melons  growing  on  the  house-tops,  in  the  very  heart  of 
the  town,  and  many  vines  trained  up  the  walls  of  houses. 
The  buildings  are  in  general  miserable.  Often  the  lower 
part  of  the  house  is  of  marble  (brought  like  common 
stone  from  the  neighbouring  islands),  while  all  above  is 
a  clumsy  shed  of  wood.  We  passed  one  of  the  Dervish 
establishments,  resembling  that  of  a  monastery.  It  was 
that  of  the  Dancing  Dervishes;  some  of  whom  were 
sauntering  in  the  court,  wearing  the  round,  high  cap,  a 
mark  by  which  they  are  easily  known. 

In  the  evening,  we  walked  among  the  ruins  occasioned 
by  the  fire.  Several  tents,  chiefly  of  Armenian  mer¬ 
chants,  who  had  lost  their  all,  were  pitched  among  the 
smoking  ruins.  One  of  these  was  overheard  to  say,  as 
a  funeral  passed  by,  “  Would  to  God  that  I  too  had  been 
carried  to  my  grave.”  f  In  the  bitterness  of  his  soul,  he 
unconsciously  imitated  the  impatient  burst  of  Job. 

In  our  way  home,  we  observed  several  persons  wrapt 
in  their  hyke,  preparing  to  sleep  under  the  open  sky. 
Indeed,  it  is  a  frequent  custom  here,  and  in  all  the  East, 
to  sleep  in  the  open  air  all  night,  and  this  may  explain  the 
case  of  the  young  man  who  followed  Christ,  “having  a 
linen  cloth  cast  about  his  naked  body.”  \ 

(Aug.  20.)  We  were  visited  by  Mr.  Farman,  the  Jew¬ 
ish  Missionary  of  the  London  Society,  who  brought 
along  with  him  a  converted  German  Jew,  named  Merku- 
son.  Another  Jewish  convert,  since  dead,  named  Jeru- 
schalmai,  was  prevented  by  domestic  circumstances  from 
accompanying  them.  From  them  we  received  much 
valuable  information  with  regard  to  the  Jews.  But  as 
yet,  no  one  has  been  able  to  obtain  accurate  statistical 
information  as  to  the  numbers  and  condition  of  the  Jew¬ 
ish  population  of  Constantinople.  They  reckon  their 
numbers,  including  the  Jews  of  Scutari,  Ortakoy,  and  the 


*  Song  iii.  10. 


t  Job  iii.  20,  21. 


t  Mark  xiv.  51. 


JEWS. 


351 


suburban  villages,  at  80,000  souls.*  Most  of  these  are 
originally  Spanish  Jews,  whose  fathers  took  refuge  here 
when  expelled  from  Spain.  They,  therefore,  speak  the 
Spanish  and  Turkish  languages.  There  are  about  600 
German,  and  200  Italian  Jews.  The  great  mass  of  the 
Jewish  community  here  are  ignorant  and  unlearned. 
Mr.  Farman,  as  well  as  the  two  Jewish  converts,  agreed 
that  schools  for  the  children  of  the  German  Jews  might 
succeed  well.  But  in  order  to  induce  the  parents  to  send 
their  children,  it  would  be  needful  to  offer  to  teach  them 
French  and  Italian.  The  expense  of  an  Italian  master 
could  not  be  less  than  3/.  10s.  a-month,  and  a  French 
master  the  same.  It  would  also  be  needful  to  teach  the 
boys  and  girls  in  separate  apartments.  A  Hebrew 
teacher  could  easily  be  found.  It  would  not  be  very 
difficult  to  find  some  liberal-minded  Jew,  who  would 
teach  Flebrew  from  the  Old  Testament,  and  who  would 
not  object  to  a  missionary’s  visit  to  the  schools.  Mr. 
Farman  even  thought  that  the  New  Testament  might  be 
introduced.  If  such  a  school  were  established,  probably 
fifteen  boys  and  as  many  girls  might  be  persuaded  to 
attend  it  at  once.  These  remarks  apply  only  to  the 
German  Jews. 

In  regard  to  the  Spanish  Jews,  who  constitute  the  mass 
of  the  population,  they  are  very  bitter  in  their  enmity  to 
Christianity.  But  if  the  experiment  were  tried  with  the 
others,  it  is  possible  that  they  also  might  be  induced  to 
follow  the  example  set  them  by  their  German  brethren. 

The  reason  why  the  German  Jews  would  be  willing 
to  send  their  children  is,  that  they  have  brought  with 
them  to  this  country  some  of  the  spirit  and  principles  of 
Germany — they  know  the  value  of  education,  and  wish 
for  it.  If  a  German  Christian  lady  were  appointed  fe¬ 
male  teacher  of  the  school,  it  would  not  be  objected  to 
by  the  Jews.  The  expenses  of  a  missionary  in  Constan¬ 
tinople  are  necessarily  great ;  it  is  not  uncommon  to  pay 
400/.  as  the  rent  of  a  moderately-sized  dwelling.  But 
the  great  hinderance  in  the  way  of  carrying  the  gospel 
to  Israel  here  is  the  total  want  of  protection  to  converts 
and  inquirers  ;  for  the  Jews,  being  recognised  by  Govern¬ 
ment  as  a  community,  have  power  to  get  any  one  of 
their  brethren  banished  if  they  desire  it.  If  a  Jew  is  con- 

*  Rabbi  Bibas  of  Corfu,  whom  we  afterwards  met,  reduced  the  num¬ 
ber  to  20,000;  but  without  stating  any  evidence  to  induce  us  to  credit 
his  assertion.  He  may  have  meant  the  Jews  of  the  city  without  those 
of  the  suburbs. 


CONSTANTINOPLE — JEWS. 


352 

verted  and  receives  baptism  at  the  hands  of  a  Protestant 
minister,  the  Greeks  and  Armenians  immediately  with¬ 
hold  all  employment  from  him ;  so  that  he  is  cast  upon 
the  missionary  himself  for  support.  Mr.  Farman  fixe 
his  residence  at  Beyukdere,  and  one  object  he  had  in 
view  in  living  so  far  from  the  city  was  that  he  might  get 
protection  and  employment  for  inquiring  Jews,  that 
village  being  inhabited  chiefly  by  Franks.  Sometimes 
he  has  been  visited  by  twenty  Jews  at  one  time,  all  de¬ 
siring  Christian  baptism,  provided  only  they  could  be 
protected.  He  told  us  that  he  knew  of  many  m  that 
condition  at  that  very  moment ;  and  a  Jewess  had  come 
to  him  very  lately,  asking  baptism.  It  is  tiue,  then  mo¬ 
tive  is  not  always  good.  Perhaps,  there  are  not  many 
of  them  who  care  about  Christianity  itself,  01  feel  biu- 
dened  with  a  sense  of  sin.  It  is  rather  a  desne  to  be  flee 
from  the  yoke  of  Judaism  that  influences  them.  Still, 
such  a  desire  is  not  to  be  lightly  treated,  and  may,  by 
the  blessing  of  God  upon  the  teaching  of  the  missionary, 
be  made  the  beginning  of  a  saving  change/*5  There  is  a 
strict  adherence  to  the  Talmud  among  the  Spanish  Jews. 
They  universally  expect  Messiah;  and  many  of  them 
had  fixed  the  year  1840  as  the  era  of  his  appealing. 

Almost  all  the  large  synagogues  have  a  school  attach¬ 
ed  to  them ;  and  at  Ortakoy,  there  are  some  large  schools 
unconnected  with  the  synagogues.  In  that  quarter,  ttiey 
have  frequently  purchased  Bibles  from  the  missionary 

for  their  schools.  ,  . 

Mr.  Farman  told  us  that  he  had  laboured  here  about 
four  years;  Mr.  Schauffler,  the  American  missionaiy  to 
the  Jews,  (and  the  only  one,  we  believe,  that  America 
has  hitherto  sent  to  the  house  of  Israel,)  had  laboured 
longer;  but  had  hitherto  turned  his  attention  chiefly 
to  translation.  To  him,  the  Jew  Merkuson  owes  his 
knowledge  of  the  truth.  Mr.  Wolff  was  the  first  to  visit 
his  brethren  in  this  great  city.  Then  Mr.  Farman  and 
Mr.  Nicolayson  came,  and  decided  upon  its  claims  to  be 
one  of  the  stations  of  the  London  Jewish  Society. 

The  Jews  here  have  been  superseded  as  bankers  by 
the  Armenians,  and  so  have  lost  much  of  then  influence 
with  Government.  They  are  poor  and  unlearned, 
making  money  is  their  great  object.  They  have  this  re- 

*  The  Basle  “Freund  des  Israel,”  in  1838,  states  that  there  were 200 
nr  300  Jews  in  Constantinople  ready  to  become  Christians.  Bu 

bove  statement  explains  what  kind  of  Christians  they  in  e 


SAIL  UP  THE  BOSPHORUS — SCENERY. 


353 


markable  feature  that  they  are  very  stationary,  not  mov¬ 
ing  from  place  to  place.  In  Ortakoy  alone  reside  6000 
Jews;  in  Scutari,  3000;  in  Ismid,  the  ancient  Nicomedia , 
there  are  1000,  and  in  Brousa,  6000  or  7000.*  The  whole 
population  of  Constantinople  is  generally  reckoned  to  be 
500,000. 

The  same  evening  we  walked  out  with  Mr.  Calhoun, 
and  saw  on  the  hill  opposite  to  us  the  aqueduct  of  Va- 
lens,  and  the  place  where  Mahommed,  the  conqueror  of 
Constantinople,  entered  the  city.  We  traced  also  what 
had  been  the  course  of  the  ancient  city  walls,  and  re¬ 
turned  homewards  through  the  now  ruined  houses  of  Pera. 

Early  next  morning  (Aug.  21)  we  enjoyed  a  sail  up 
the  Bosphorus  in  one  of  the  light  caiques  to  pay  a  short 
visit  to  Mr.  Farman,  the  converted  Jew  Merkuson  ac¬ 
companying  us.  His  residence  was  at  the  village  of 
Beyukdere,  twelve  miles,  or  almost  the  whole  extent  of 
the  Bosphorus,  from  Pera.  As  we  set  sail  the  caiques 
were  shooting  across  the  harbour  in  all  directions,  and 
the  scene  varied  every  moment.  We  kept  near  the 
shore,  in  order  as  much  as  possible  to  avoid  the  strong 
current  from  the  Black  Sea,  and  yet  we  were  so  retard¬ 
ed  by  it,  that  though  we  set  sail  at  half-past  seven,  it  was 
half-past  eleven  before  we  reached  Beyukdere.  On  our 
left  the  winter-palace  of  the  Sultan,  though  irregularly 

*  We  were  here  occasionally  led  by  curiosity  to  compare  our  inqui¬ 
ries  with  the  Itinerary  of  Benjamin  of  Tudela,  himself  a  Jew,  of  the 
12th  century.  He  visited  Constantinople  some  centuries  before  the 
Jews  from  Spain  sought  refuge  in  it;  and  tells  us  that  there  he  found 
2000  Jews  living  in  Pera,  and  400  Karaites;  and  that  the  Jews  suffered 
much  at  the  hands  of  the  Greeks,  who  used  to  excite  the  whole  world 
against  them.  He  then  sailed  southward  by  Rodosto,  the  ancient  Bi- 
santhe,  where  are  still  about  1000  Jews.  “  From  this  place  (says  he) 
Rodoste  is  distant  a  sea  voyage  of  two  days,  where  is  a  Jewish  congre¬ 
gation  of  nearly  400  persons :  whose  chief  men  are  Rabbi  Moses,  R. 
Abia,  and  R.  Jacob.  Then,  two  days  distant  is  Gallipoli,  where  are 
about  200  Jews;  and  two  days  further,  Calash,  where  are  50  Jews.  *  * 
Two  days  from  thence  is  Mitilin,  one  of  the  islands  of  the  sea,  in  which 
the  Jews  have  synagogues  at  ten  different  places.  And  three  days  from 
this  is  Chios,  where  are  nearly  400  Jews,  whose  chief  men  are  Rabbi 
Elias,  Rabbi  Thoma,  and  Rabbi  Sabbatai.  It  is  here  they  find  trees 
from  which  mastyx  is  gathered.  Two  days  from  this  is  Samos,  where 
are  nearly  300  Jews.  Throughout  these  islands  are  many  synagogues 
of  the  Jews.  Three  days  off  from  this  is  Rhodes,  where  are  about  400 
Jews;  and  four  days  distant  is  Cyprus,  in  which  is  a  synagogue  of 
Jews  who  follow  the  customs  of  their  fathers ;  but  also  another  syna¬ 
gogue  of  Jews,  called  Epicureans,  or  heretics  of  Cyprus.  These  latter 
are  every  where  excommunicated  by  the  other  Jews,  for  they  profane 
the  evening  of  the  (Jewish)  Sabbath,  and  observe  the  evening  of  the 
first  day  of  the  week.” 

32 


CONSTANTINOPLE — -BOSPHORUS 


354 

built,  had  a  striking  appearance.  We  counted  forty 
columns  in  front  of  one  wing  of  the  building;  and  an¬ 
other  wing  had  eight  Corinthian  pillars.  The  roof  has  an 
elegant  battlement,  and  the  rows  of  windows  are  light  and 
graceful.  The  steps  in  front  came  down  to  the  water 
edge,  and  several  Turks  were  pacing  backwards  and 
forwards  on  them  with  their  usual  solemn  gait,  remind¬ 
ing  us  of  the  poet’s  description— 

“  The  bearded  Turk  that  rarely  deigns  to  speak, 

Master  of  all  around,  too  potent  to  be  meek.” 

In  the  interior,  we  could  see  a  square,  enclosing  foun¬ 
tains  and  a  well  laid  out  garden.  Nearly  opposite  this, 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Bosphorus,  stands  the  Golden 
Palace,  so  called  because  ornamented  all  over  with  gild¬ 
ed  work,  where  the  young  Sultan  was  residing  at  the 
time.  The  line  of  buildings  on  the  European  side  is 
scarcely  ever  interrupted ;  there  being  almost  one  con¬ 
tinuous  line  of  houses  for  ten  or  twelve  miles.  The  chim¬ 
neys  of  many  of  them  are  in  the  form  of  a  well-shaped 
pillar,  which  gives  them  an  air  of  superior  neatness. 
They  are  built  close  upon  the  water,  and  often  there 
seemed  not  above  a  hundred  yards  of  level  ground  be¬ 
tween  the  sea  and  the  steep  hills  that  sloped  up  behind. 
On  the  brow  of  these  hills  gardens  and  cypress  trees  were 
waving,  which  give  freshness  and  beauty  to  the  scene, 
while  the  sea  flows  up  to  the  very  steps  of  many  of  the 
houses.  We  came  to  Ortakoy,— that  is,  “  middle  village,” 
— a  large  suburb  of  the  city,  poor  anjd  ill-built,  inhabited 
by  Jews,  but  generally  of  the  lower  class.  Beyond  this  is 
one  ledge  of  sunken  rocks,  marked  by  an  elegant  marble 
fountain  erected  above  them,  and  two  other  similar  ledges 
of  rocks,  marked  by  groups  of  trees  planted  on  them.  The 
English  Admiral,  Sir  R.  Stopford,  passing  the  Seraglio, 
was  saluted  by  twenty  guns,  the  sound  of  which  echoed 
deep  among  the  surrounding  hills.  The  water  was  all 
the  time  clear,  and  the  channel  pebbly  to  the  very  edge, 
the  current  often  so  strong  as  to  compel  the  men  to  leave 
the  caique,  and  instead  of  rowing,  to  drag  the  boat  with 
ropes  round  the  point  where  the  current  met  it.  We  were 
met  by  a  steamer  from  Trebizond  coming  down  from  the 
Black  Sea.  The  sea-fowl  were  flying  round  us ;  and  in¬ 
numerable  porpoises  were  sporting  beautifully  in  the 
water.  A  breeze  from  the  Black  Sea  and  some  overhang¬ 
ing  clouds  gave  a  grateful  coolness  to  the  air.  W  hite 
towers  occasionally  meet  the  eye  perched  on  the  sur- 


BEYUKDERE — VISIT  TO  MR.  FARM  AN — ARMENIANS.  355 

rounding  heights,  and  small  forts,  defended  with  cannon, 
stand  close  upon  the  shore.  One  remarkable  fortress 
occurs  near  the  head  of  the  strait,  said  by  some  to  be  of 
Genoese  origin,  and  by  others  to  be  the  work  of  Con¬ 
stantine.  Its  towers  are  not  round  but  sharp-cornered, 
and  the  walls  surmounted  with  a  battlement.  If  it  be 
the  work  of  Constantine,  it  would  be  valuable  and  inter¬ 
esting,  for  no  remains  of  that  illustrious  Emperor  are  to 
be  found  in  his  own  city.  Passing  Therapia,  where  Lord 
Ponsonby,  the  British  Ambassador,  was  then  residing, 
we  at  length  reached  Beyukdere,  pleasantly  situated 
within  sight  of  the  opening  into  the  Black  Sea.  After 
visiting  Mr.  Farman,  and  hearing  more  of  his  labours, 
both  among  the  Jews  and  European  residents,  we  re¬ 
turned  to  the  city.  The  sail  back  occupied  only  two 
hours,  the  current  being  with  us,  and  the  whole  trip  cost 
us  only  thirty  piastres. 

In  the  evening  one  of  the  American  Missionaries,  Mr. 
Hamlin,  once  assistant  to  the  devoted  Dr.  Payson,  but 
who  has  now  consecrated  himself  to  missionary  labour, 
gave  us  some  account  of  the  Armenians  of  Constanti¬ 
nople.  They  are  a  social  community,  enjoying  much 
domestic  happiness.  Their  feelings  against  Protestant¬ 
ism  are  very  bitter,  and  they  hold  no  open  communica¬ 
tion  with  the  missionaries.  Still  there  seems  to  be  a 
secret  work  of  the  Spirit  begun  in  the  hearts  of  some  of 
them.  One  young  priest  is  decidedly  pious,  and  labours 
silently  among  his  brethren.  A  rich  banker,  who  had 
done  all  he  could  for  the  schools,  continues  to  be  enthu¬ 
siastic  in  that  object,  and  friendly  to  the  missionaries. 
There  used  to  be  about  sixty  young  men  attending  the 
missionary  schools;  and  all  these  still  manifest  great 
kindness  to  the  missionaries. 

This  night  we  remarked  the  howling  of  the  dogs  that 
prowl  about  the  city.  All  foreigners  are  struck  with 
their  noise  and  unsightly  appearance.  They  wander 
about  the  streets  with  fierce  hungry  looks,  and  occasion¬ 
ally  even  attack  the  lonely  passenger  in  the  night.  They 
answer  precisely  to  the  description  given  in  the  Psalm, 
“  At  evening  let  them  return,  and  let  them  make  a  noise 
like  a  dog,  and  go  round  about  the  city:  let  them  wan¬ 
der  up  and  down  for  meat,  and  grudge  if  they  be  not 
satisfied.”* 

Next  day  (August  22),  accompanied  by  Mr.  Calhoun, 
we  took  a  caique  at  Tophana,  and  crossed  the  Golden 
Horn,  hoping  to  get  a  sight  of  the  interior  of  the  famous 

*  Ps.  lix.  14,  15. 


S  56 


ST.  SOPHIA  MOSQUE. 


Seraglio  in  the  train  of  the  British  Admiral,  Sir  R.  Stop- 
ford,  who  was  that  day  to  be  admitted  within  its  walls. 
In  this,  however,  we  were  disappointed,  as  the  Admiral 
had  left  the  place  before  we  reached  it.  From  without, 
its  appearance  is  extensive  and  splendid,  adorned  with 
many  gilded  minarets,  shooting  up  amidst  tall  and  ver¬ 
dant  trees.  It  has  been  the  scene  of  many  a  deed  of 
horrid  cruelty. 

The  part  of  the  city  where  it  stands  is  called  fetam- 
boul,  and  is  the  most  ancient.  As  we  walked  on  we  ob¬ 
served  in  various  places  small  pieces  of  paper  collected 
together  and  thrust  into  openings  of  the  walls.  This  is 
done  by  Mahometans,  who  are  careful  to  preserve  pieces 
of  paper  with  any  writing  on  them,  because  possibly  the 
name  of  Mahomet  or  of  Allah  may  be  on  some  of  them. 
We  passed  the  old  divan  which  was  burned  down  some 
years  ago.  Its  elegant  gate  is  arched  in  the  form  of  an 
expanded  leaf,  and  is  said  by  some  to  have  given  its  name 
to  the  Sublime  Porte,  whose  sittings  were  held  here. 

We  then  visited  the  mosque  of  St.  Sophia,  whose  dome 
is  the  largest  in  the  world.  It  is  a  magnificent  building, 
but  the  Turks  have  added  many  of  the  present  portions 
of  the  edifice.  The  mosque  of  Achmet  stands  adjoining 
it,  having  six  minarets,  covered,  not  with  gilding,  but 
with  gold  itself,  which  retains  its  lustre  unimpaired. 
There  is  first  an  outer  court,  a  space  set  round  with 
trees;  then,  an  inner  court,  or  square,  adorned  with 
eight-and-twenty  pillars,  some  of  marble,  .others  of  gra¬ 
nite,  and  the  capitals  of  each  finished  off  in  the  form  of 
fringes.  The  pavement  of  the  court  is  all  marble,  and 
in  the  centre  a  fountain  pours  forth  its  refreshing  streams. 
Through  the  open  windows  we  got  a  glance  of  the  inte¬ 
rior  also,  though  a  surly  Turk  from  within  commanded 
us  to  withdraw.  The  roof  is  supported  by  immense  pil¬ 
lars,  and  is  compacted  of  layers  of  stone;  the  walls  are 
finely  ornamented,  and  the  floor  spread  with  clean  mats 
and  carpets.  Adjoining  the  mosque  of  Achmet  is  the 
square  called  Aclimedan  or  Atmeidan,  the  ancient  Hip¬ 
podrome,  in  which  Belisarius  was  seen  in  the  height  of 
his  renown,  celebrating  his  victories  by  a  Roman  tri¬ 
umph.  In  the  midst  of  it  is  an  obelisk,  brought  from 
Egypt  by  the  Emperor  Theodosius,  according  to  the  in¬ 
scription  on  the  pedestal,  written  in  Latin  on  one  side, 
and  in  Greek  on  the  other.  Beside  the  inscription  is 
carved  a  representation  of  the  Emperor’s  procession, 
with  the  people  presenting  him  with  gifts,  while  he  him- 


CONSTANTINOPLE — PILLAR — MAUSOLEUM.  3  57 

self  stands  at  an  altar  in  the  act  of  offering  sacrifice ; 
and  on  the  opposite  side  is  a  representation  of  men 
dragging  the  obelisk  to  its  place.  Close  by  is  a  curious 
brass  pillar,  in  the  form  of  three  serpents  entwining  each 
other.  This  was  brought  from  Delphi,  and  is  believed 
to  be  the  identical  pillar  that  bore  on  its  top  the  golden 
Tripod  dedicated  to  Apollo  after  the  defeat  of  Xerxes. 
Adjoining,  there  is  a  rough  clumsy  pillar,  supposed  to  be 
the  remains  of  a  column  which  Constantine  erected  here, 
which  was  probably  once  covered  with  plates  of  brass, 
but  at  present  is  little  else  than  a  heap  of  unpolished 
stones.  W e  next  came  to  a  mausoleum  erected  in  honour 
of  the  father  of  the  late  Sultan,  and  of  two  other  Sul¬ 
tans  and  their  children.  The  interior  is  magnificently 
adorned,  rich  drapery  hung  on  all  the  tombs;  many 
lamps  were  burning,  and  there  were  in  it  some  large 
candelabras,  ready  to  be  lighted  on  particular  occasions. 
It  is  a  favourite  resort  of  devout  Mahometans  at  the  time 
of  prayer. 

We  then  visited  the  bazaar,  which  occupies  a  wide 
space.  It  consists  of  many  streets  and  rows  of  shops, 
all  roofed  over  for  shade  and  coolness.  In  one  street 
there  is  a  row  of  tent-makers ;  in  another,  shoemakers ; 
in  another,  sellers  of  pipes ;  in  another,  shops  exhibiting 
every  variety  of  rich  cloth ;  then  a  row  of  silks  and 
furs ;  so  that  almost  every  article  of  common  use  has  a 
row  of  shops  for  itself.  At  one  shop-door  we  asked  for 
a  dish  of  yaout, — that  is,  meat  boiled  with  sauce  and 
leban,  and  eaten  with  toasted  bread.  We  did  not  find  it 
possible  to  visit  the  slave-market. 

In  the  afternoon,  we  crossed  over  to  Scutari,  the  an¬ 
cient  Chrysopolis ,  which  was  the  seaport  of  Chalcedon , 
on  the  Asiatic  side  of  the  Bosphorus.  Our  chief  object 
was  to  visit  the  howling  Dervishes.  They  were  begin¬ 
ning  their  devotions  as  we  entered.  At  first  they  prayed 
moderately,  in  a  kind  of  chanting  voice.  In  about  half 
an  hour  they  formed  a  semi-circle  round  their  chief,  to 
whom  each  went  up  before  taking  his  place,  doing  obei¬ 
sance,  while  he  took  off  the  cap  they  wore,  and  replaced 
it  with  a  lighter  one,  more  fit  for  the  part  they  were  to 
act.  They  prayed  with  every  imaginable  gesture  and 
movement,  the  body,  head,  and  hands  all  being  in  motion 
at  once.  From  time  to  time  their  chief  seemed  to  excite 
them  to  greater  vehemence,  by  crying  out  with  a  loud 
scream,  “ Ullah ,  Jllah in  a  tone  that  made  us  shudder. 
In  a  short  time,  the  whole  company  were  engaged  in  the 

32* 


358  CONSTANTINOPLE— HOWLING  DERVISHES. 

most  frantic  movements.  Some  of  them,  nearly  over¬ 
powered  with  their  intense  efforts,  were  gasping  for 
breath,  and  all  uttering  a  sound,  “  ocha,  ocha,”  like  one 
panting  and  ready  to  sink  under  exhaustion.  A  dancing" 
dervish  then  entered  the  room,  who  sat  down  and  played 
calmly  on  a  pipe,  while  the  rest  kept  time  to  the  tune  in 
the  violent  gestures  of  their  bodies.  Then  three  more 
appeared,  and  kept  whirling  about  in  a  circle  for  twenty 
minutes  without  ceasing.  The  whole  scene  was  a  fright¬ 
ful  exhibition  of  human  impiety  and  fanaticism,  and  yet 
we  were  told  that  it  is  often  much  more  extra  vagant  and 
revolting.  The  missionaries  at  Brousa  lately  saw  one 
of  these  dervishes  work  himself  up  to  such  a  frenzy,  that 
the  foam  came  from  his  mouth,  his  face  grew  pale,  and 
he  fell  on  the  ground,  like  the  demoniacs  mentioned  in 
the  New  Testament,  till  one  of  his  company  restored  him 
by  beating  on  his  breast,  and  other  restorative  processes. 
We  observed  hanging  on  the  wall  the  instruments  with 
which  they  used  to  torture  themselves,  like  the  priests  of 
Baal.*  There  were  hooks,  and  sharp-pointed  instru¬ 
ments,  and  wires  that  used  to  be  thrust  through  their 
cheeks  from  side  to  side ;  balls  also,  attached  to  sharp- 
pointed  spikes.  These  balls  were  made  to  strike  the 
ground,  and  to  recoil  in  such  a  way,  that  the  spike  struck 
its  point  into  their  breast.  It  required  a  decree  of  the 
late  Sultan  to  put  a  stop  to  these  self-torturing  practices. 
Many  persons  came  in  to  be  blessed  by  the  dervishes. 
As  they  entered,  they  kissed  the  hands  of  the  chief.  Two 
soldiers  were  among  the  number  of  the  dervishes,  and 
several  soldiers  came  in  to  receive  a  blessing.  One  man, 
who  had  sore  eyes,  came  forward  to  the  chief,  who  prayed 
over  him  and  sent  him  away.  Clothes  also  and  sick 
children  were  carried  in  to  receive  a  blessing.  And  yet 
these  dervishes  are  exceedingly  immoral  in  their  lives, 
being  guilty  of  the  grossest  licentiousness.  We  wit¬ 
nessed  this  painful  scene  for  about  two  hours,  and 
learned  to  cry  with  more  intense  desire,  “Have  respect 
unto  the  covenant,  for  the  dark  places  of  the  earth  are 
full  of  the  habitations  of  cruelty.” 

Close  to  Scutari  stood  the  ancient  Chalcedon,  now 
called  Kadikoy,  “  the  village  of  the  judges,”  in  allusion  to 
the  famous  Council  once  held  within  its  walls,  the  Council 
which  condemned  the  opinions  of  Eutyches,  who  held  that 
there  was  but  one  nature  in  Christ.  Crossing  to  Galata, 

*  ]  Kings  xviii.  28. 


/ 


JEWISH  QUARTER. 


359 


we  enjoyed  a  splendid  sail,  and  the  view  of  a  magnificent 
sunset.  The  rich  beams  of  the  sun  were  playing  on  the 
waters,  while  innumerable  caiques  were  skimming  gaily 
over  them.  A  Greek  vessel  was  leaving  the  harbour,  a 
'pilgrim  vessel ,  setting  out  for  the  Holy  Land.  It  was  a 
small  brig,  and  the  passengers  were  miserably  crowded 
together,  ail  eager  to  pay  their  vows  at  the  Holy  Sepul¬ 
chre.  Such  vessels  as  these,  manned  by  ignorant  sailors, 
are  often  wrecked  by  sudden  storms. 

The  same  evening  we  applied  to  the  Russian  Chan¬ 
cellor,  to  get  our  passport  signed  for  Warsaw.  This  he 
refused  to  do,  assigning  as  his  reason  that  no  ecclesiastic 
is  allowed  to  pass-through  Russia,  unless  he  has  obtained 
from  St.  Petersburg!!  the  special  consent,  both  of  the 
Synod  and  of  the  Emperor.  We  noticed  that,  as  he 
spoke,  he  was  all  the  while  noting  down  our  names  and 
appearance  for  the  passport,  no  doubt  intending  to  send 
them  before  us,  to  prevent  us  from  making  any  attempt 
to  cross  the  Russian  frontier.  Had  he  known  that  we 
were  sent  on  a  mission  of  love  to  Israel,  he  would  no 
doubt  have  been  still  more  determined  in  his  refusal,  for 
Russia  holds  Israel  with  a  grasp  as  firm  as  that  of  Pha¬ 
raoh;  though  the  day  is  at  hand  when  God  “  will  say  to 
the  north,  Give  up.”  *  We  were  thus  obliged  to  give  up 
the  hopes  of  returning  by  Warsaw,  and  to  make  up  our 
mind  to  shape  our  course  through  Cracow.  Meanwhile, 
we  occupied  our  time  in  fresh  inquiries  into  the  state  of 
Israel  in  the  city  of  Constantinople. 

(Aug.  23.)  Setting  out  for  the  Jewish  quarter,  we  met 
two  strong  Circassians,  wearing  the  caftan  and  conical 
Persian  cap.  We  also  met  a  Roman  Catholic  funeral ; 
that  of  a  young  person.  The  priest  walked  before  in  his 
black  dress,  reading  the  prayers;  many  boys  following 
him  joined  in  the  chant ;  and  the  bier  was  covered  with 
flowers.  We  sailed  up  the  Golden  Horn,  passing  by  a 
wooden  bridge  and  a  dockyard,  in  which  we  saw  no 
more  than  two  ships  building  and  a  few  under  repair. 
We  landed  at  the  Jewish  quarter,  called  Huski,  and  soon 
got  a  pleasant  young  Jew,  named  Nisim,  who  spoke 
Italian,  to  be  our  guide.  He  knew  no  Hebrew,  and  had 
little  of  an  Israelite  in  his  character.  He  said  he  was 
anxious  to  be  away  from  his  countrymen  and  to  get  to 
England.  We  asked  what  he  hoped  to  find  in  England; 
and,  in  reply,  he  showed  us  that  the  sum  of  his  expec- 

*  Isa.  xliii.  6. 


I 


360  CONSTANTINOPLE — SYNAGOGUES. 

tations  was,  “  that  he  would  get  freedom  to  do  as  he  liked,” 
and  wear  “  nuovo  capello ,”  “  a  new  hat.”  He  took  us  to 
a  school  attended  by  about  eighty  boys.  Here  the  basti¬ 
nado  and  the  whip  hung  on  the  walls  as  at  Smyrna ;  yet 
the  children  did  not  appear  to  be  so  much  oppressed. 
Scarcely  any  had  books  from  which  to  read ;  but  a  few 
leaves  were  handed  from  one  to  the  other.  In  another 
school  we  found  thirty  children,  who  were  reading  ex¬ 
tracts  from  the  Old  Testament,  but  they  also  had  few 
school-books.  As  we  entered,  they  w'ere  reading  the 
passage,  “  For  a  small  mom,ent  have  I  forsaken  thee ,  but 
with  great  mercies  will  1  gather  thee.”*  The  syllables 
and  sounds  of  this  they  repeated  over  and  over,  but  did 
not  seem  to  understand  the  sense.  How  little  they  knew 
the  depths  of  gracious  love  to  their  nation  which  that 
verse  contains !  We  visited  two  other  schools  of  the 
same  kind,  and  found  that  the  accommodation  in  all 
■was  wretched  ;  and  the  teachers  illiterate. 

We  came  to  a  synagogue  standing  on  an  eminence, 
and  enclosed  within  a  wall.  It  was  not  unlike  one  of 
our  churches,  well  built,  airy,  and  clean.  The  drapery 
in  front  of  the  ark  was  embroidered  in  a  beautiful  man¬ 
ner,  and  the  lamps  were  handsome  lustres  of  brass. 
There  were  sixteen  synagogues  in  this  quarter  alone, 
and  three  in  Pera.  The  Jews  seemed  very  suspicious 
of  us  :  they  scarcely  entered  into  conversation  at  all,  but 
stood  silent,  and  sullenly  noticed  what  we  did  and  where 
we  went.  With  some  difficulty  we  now  found  our  way 
to  the  synagogue  of  the  Karaite  Jews,  of  whom  there  are 
about  a  hundred  families  here,  all  living  together  in  one 
quarter,  being  despised  and  hated  by  the  other  Jews. 
Their  synagogue  is  built  in  a  low  situation.  You  descend 
a  stair,  over  which  a  vine  is  spreading  its  branches,  and 
there  find  yourself  in  the  area  where  the  synagogue 
stands.  Perhaps  it  is  a  satire  on  their  fondness  for  the 
literal  meaning  of  Scripture,  but  it  is  said — that  the  Ka¬ 
raites  always  have  their  synagogue  low,  that  so  they  may 
literally  use  the  Psalm,  “  Out  of  the  depths  have  I  cried 
unto  thee ,  O  Lord .”f  The  apartment  was  neat  and  clean, 
the  floor  covered  with  mats  and  carpets.  We  examined 
their  copies  of  the  Bible,  and  found  one  of  the  London  So¬ 
ciety’s  edition  among  them.  They  wear  “the  fringes” 
or  Tsitsith ,  according  to  the  commandment  in  Numbers, J 
of  a  different  form  from  those  of  other  Jews.  It  is 


*  Isa.  liv.  7. 


t  Ps.  cxxx.  1. 


\  Nura.  xv.  38. 


KARAITE  SYNAGOGUE. 


36 


with  them  a  sort  of  sash  or  girdle,  at  the  two  ends  of 
which  are  fringes  of  white  and  blue, — not  merely  white 
threads,  like  that  of  the  other  Jews.  We  saw  also  the 
mezuzah  at  the  door  of  the  synagogue,  so  that  they  are 
not  altogether  free  from  Pharisaical  traditions.  But  they 
have  no  Tepliillin  or  phylacteries;  on  the  contrary,  they 
deride  them,  and  call  them  “  donkey -bridles .”  They  have 
only  one  school  for  their  children.  Inquiring  for  the 
rabbi,  we  learned  he  was  absent  in  Stamboul,  so  that  we 
resol yed  to  return  on  the  morrow  to  get  better  acquaint¬ 
ed  with  this  interesting  people,  the  Protestants  of  the 
house  of  Israel.  We  made  inquiry  of  many  Jews  about 
the  place  which  Joseph  Wolff  calls  “the  Valley  of  Job,” 
and  which  he  said  that  some  Jews  thought  was  “the 
land  of  Uz.”  There  is  such  a  spot,  but  none  of  the  Jews 
connected  it  with  that  patriarch.  It  gets  its  name  from 
a  famous  Saracen  named  Yob,  who  was  killed  in  the 
valley  in  the  great  assault  on  Constantinople,  and  whose 
tomb  was  erected  there.  It  is  said  that  the  spot  of  his 
burial  was  discovered  in  a  miraculous  manner,  and  a 
mosque  has  been  built  over  it,  called,  after  him,  the 
Mosque  of  Yob,  which  is  much  frequented  by  devout 
Moslems. 

(Aug.  24.)  A  little  after  five  in  the  morning,  we  again 
sailed  up  the  Golden  Horn  to  Huski,  and  soon  reached 
the  Karaite  Synagogue.  The  Jews  were  already  met, 
in  number  about  eighty  persons.  Their  shoes  were  all 
piled  up  at  the  door,  and  they  themselves  seated  upon 
the  ground.  A  few  who  came  in  late  seemed  to  show 
some  reverence  to  the  mezuzah  on  the  door-post.  All 
sat  while  reading  their  prayers ;  but  when  the  Law  was 
produced,  all  stood  up  in  token  of  reverence,  and  then 
sat  down  again  *  After  reading  the  usual  portion,  in 
which  two  boys  took  the  chief  share,  the  rabbi,  who  had 
invited  us  to  sit  by  his  side,  read  a  passage  in  Deuteron¬ 
omy,  and  gave  an  oral  exposition,  of  which  Mr.  Caiman 
took  notes.  The  passage  was  Deut.  xxi.  10 — 23.  “  From 
v.  10  to  15,”  the  rabbi  said,  “there  are  given  directions 
regarding  the  captive  woman  who  was  to  be  married  to 
her  Jewish  conqueror;  her  hair  was  to  be  shaved,  her 
nails  pared,  and  her  raiment  changed.”  «  Now  (said  he), 
the  heart  is  to  be  kept  with  all  diligence, Tor  if  we  allow 
our  hearts  to  think  upon  an  object,  then  the  desire  to 
have  it  springs  up.”  This  he  applied  to  the  case  of  the 


*  See  Neh.  viii.  5. 


362 


CONSTANTINOPLE — KARAITE  JEWS. 


conqueror  and  the  captive  woman.  “To  prevent  this 
snare,  she  was  to  be  deprived  of  all  her  attractions,  such 
as  her  fine  hair,  and  her  showy  raiment ;  and  her  glow¬ 
ing  spirit  was  to  be  brought  down  by  making  her  mourn 
for  her  parents  thirty  days.  If,  even  after  this,  the  con¬ 
queror  persisted  in  his  purpose,  and  chose  her  for  his 
wife,  then  there  was  need  of  directions  for  him  how  to 
act  toward  her.  Accordingly,  v.  15 — 18,  Moses  speaks 
of  ‘  the  woman  hated for  a  marriage  such  as  this,  not 
grounded  in  the  fear  of  God,  might  be  expected  to  pro¬ 
duce  strife  and  hatred.  And  even  this  is  not  all.  This 
heathen  woman  would  possibly  prove  ungodly ;  and  un¬ 
godly  mothers  will  train  up  their  children  in  ungodliness. 
Hence,  v.  18 — 22,  Moses  is  led  to  speak  of  ‘  the  rebellious 
son.’  ”  After  thus  ingeniously  tracing  the  connection  of 
the  verses,  the  rabbi  spoke  at  some  length  of  the  respon¬ 
sibility  lying  upon  parents.  He  exhorted  them  “  to  take 
special  care  in  training  up  their  families,  and  not  to  ad¬ 
mit  persons  into  their  houses,  of  w7hose  piety  and  integ¬ 
rity  they  had  no  evidence.  The  captive  woman  was 
obliged  to  make  a  profession  of  the  religion  of  her  con¬ 
queror  before  she  could  be  married  to  him ;  but  you  see 
(said  he)  the  chain  of  misfortunes  that  succeed  when  the 
profession  is  not  a  true  one.”  He  referred,  in  conclusion, 
to  the  wise  provision  of  the  Karaite  Jew’s,  that  none  be 
admitted  into  their  communion,  who  have  not  passed 
through  a  probation  of  five  years,  during  w’hich  time 
they  are  instructed,  and  their  manner  of  life  wratched. 
If  they  are  found  to  be  sincere  and  faithful,  then,  at  the 
end  of  that  time,  they  are  received  as  brethren,  and  mar¬ 
ried  into  one  of  their  families. 

There  was  no  greater  appearance  of  real  devotion  in 
the  Karaite  congregation  than  in  other  Jewish  syna¬ 
gogues.  They  often  spoke  to  each  other  even  during 
prayer ;  and  we  observed  that  some  of  them  fell  asleep 
as  they  sat  on  the  ground.  When  service  wTas  over,  the 
rabbi,  Isaac  Cohen,  invited  us  to  his  house — a  clean  and 
airy  habitation ;  and  after  entering,  according  to  the  cus¬ 
tom  of  the  country,  a  servant  brought  us  water  and  jelly. 
The  rabbi  is  an  elderly  man,  of  some  intelligence  and 
learning — able  to  speak  Hebrew  fluently.  He  admitted 
the  ignorance  of  his  people,  and  highly  approved  of  the 
proposal  that  Christians  should  institute  schools  among 
them,  saying  that  he  would  send  his  own  son  to  be  a 
scholar.  He  remarked  that  their  sect  had  suffered  less 


CONSTANTINOPLE — KARAITE  JEWS. 


363 


from  Christians  than  from  Jews,  and  had  no  enmity  at 
all  to  the  followers  of  Jesus.  He  had  been  told  that  some 
Christians  believed  them  to  be  descendants  of  the  ten 
tribes,  who  had  no  part  in  the  death  of  Christ.  He  said 
that  it  was  1260  years  since  they  separated  from  the  other 
Jews.  The  rabbi  of  the  Karaites  must  always  be  a  Cohen , 
that  is,  a  priest,  or  lineal  descendant  of  the  family  of 
Aaron.  Our  host  himself  was  one,  as  his  name  indicated. 
Their  sect  has  no  influence  with  the  Sultan,  and  the  Ha- 
cham  Pasha  of  the  other  Jews  has  frequently  attempted 
to  get  them  banished  from  Constantinople,  and  yet  they 
have  been  able  hitherto  to  maintain  their  ground,  and 
resist  the  attempts  of  their  brethren  to  expel  them.  He 
told  us  that  he  was  himself  the  author  of  a  translation 
of  the  Pentateuch  into  Turkish,  of  which  he  had  only 
four  copies  remaining;  the  rest  had  been  all  disposed  of 
to  Karaites.  Before  taking  leave,  we  purchased  from 
him  at  a  moderate  price,  the  following  works,  all  of  them 
very  rare,  and  connected  with  the  Karaite  Jews. 


1.  A  Hebrew  Prayer-book,  used  by  the  Karaite  Jews. 

2.  A  Hebrew  Pentateuch,  with  a  translation  into  the  Tartar  and  Osmanli 

Turkish  language,  used  by  the  Karaite  Jews.  This  is  the  work 
above  mentioned  of  our  friend  R.  Isaac  Cohen. 

3.  A  Commentary  on  the  Books  of  Moses,  by  rabbi  Joseph  Solomon,  a 

Karaite  Jew. 

4.  A  Commentary  on  the  Prophets,  by  rabbi  Aaron,  a  Karaite  Jew. 

5.  A  Commentary  on  all  the  Commandments  of  the  Old  Testament,  by 

rabbi  Elijah  Bsitzi,  a  Karaite  Jew. 

All  these  are  now  deposited  in  the  Library  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  our  Church. 

We  were  highly  gratified  that  we  had  been  permitted 
to  visit  this  interesting  community ;  and  all  the  informa¬ 
tion  that  we  received  concerning  them,  confirms  the  re¬ 
port  which  we  had  previously  heard,  that  they  are  a 
peculiarly  upright  and  respectable  class  of  Jews.  The 
Karaites  of  the"  Crimea  are  so  highly  esteemed,  that  on 
one  occasion,  when  the  Emperor  wished  them  to  serve 
as  soldiers,  they  asked  him  to  inquire  if  ever  during  600 
years  any  public  crime  had  been  laid  to  the  charge  of  a 
Karaite,  and  pleaded,  that  if  they  were  sent  to  the  war,  he 
would  lose  some  of  his  best  subjects.  The  Emperor  ad¬ 
mitted  the  truth  of  their  plea,  and  desisted  from  his  demand. 
Many  of  them  carry  on  trade  at  Odessa ;  and  it  is  said 
that  there  is  a  colony  of  them  in  Lithuania,  by  the  side 


364  CONSTANTINOPLE-*— PROSPECTS  OF  MISSIONARIES. 


of  a  beautiful  lake,  where  they  are  agriculturists,  and 
cultivate  the  cucumber.  Our  friend  Mr.  Caiman  also 
met  with  Karaites  in  the  village  of  Heet  near  Bagdad.* 

(Aug.  25.)  We  enjoyed  a  Sabbath-day  not  unlike  one 
of  our  quiet  Sabbaths  at  home.  Even  the  Roman  Catho¬ 
lic  bells  sounding  through  the  city  did  not  disturb  us,  for 
they  reminded  us  the  more  of  our  own  privileged  land. 
At  ten  o’clock  forenoon,  Mr.  Bonar  preached  in  the  room 
of  the  American  missionaries,  and  again  at  half-past 
seven  in  the  evening.  The  audience  was  composed  of 
the  American  missionaries  and  their  families,  and  several 
European  residents.  At  four  o’clock  we  had  a  Bible 
class,  in  which  all  the  missionary  families  joined.  It  was 
interesting  to  be  so  engaged  in  the  midst  of  the  heathen, 
in  the  city  of  the  first  Christian  Emperor,  and  not  far 
from  the  place  where  Peter  may  have  preached;  for 
within  view,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Bosphorus,  stood 
Mount  Olympus,  marking  out  the  region  of  Bithynia. 
In  the  region  of  Bithynia  were  to  be  found  some  ol  those 
scattered  Christians,  to  whom  Peter  wrote  both  his  Epis¬ 
tles,,  encouraging  them  to  bear  “the  fiery  trial,”  f  which 
came  upon  them  under  the  governor  Pliny,  in  the  reign 
of  Trajan. 

We  were  ready  to  depart  on  the  morrow,  having  com¬ 
pleted  our  arrangements  during  the  preceding  week. 
We  had  discovered  that,  to  ascertain  accurately  the 
state  of  the  Jewish  mind  in  Constantinople,  one  must 
take  up  his  residence  there,  and  gradually  penetrate  the 
mass.  No  missionary  has  ever  done  this;  so  that  this 
great  city  is  yet  an  unexplored  territory.  Mr.  Schaufiler 
from  America,  and  Mr.  Farman  from  England,  may  be 
said  to  have  laboured  on  the  outskirts.  Any  efforts 
hitherto  made  have  been  effective,  at  the  most,  only  on 
the  German  Jews  residing  here;  whereas  the  Spanish 
Jews  form  the  immense  bulk  of  the  vast  community  of 
the  children  of  Israel.  No  aggressive  effort  has  been 
made  on  this  mass ;  and  yet  the  spontaneous  visits  made 
to  the  two  missionaries  who  have  resided  here  are 
enough  to  shew  that  there  is  some  stirring  among  the 
dry  bones  in  this  open  valley.  Oh  for  an  Elijah,  “very 
jealous  for  the  Lord  of  Hosts,”  to  go  forth  on  the  work 
of  salvation  to  these  untold  thousands  of  Israel,  who  are 

*  See  Mr.  Caiman’s  account  in  his  recent  work,  “  Errors  of  Judaism, 
p.  706. 

+  1  Pet.  iv.  12. 


KARAIT1  JEWS. 


365 


sitting  in  the  region  and  shadow  of  death !  He  would 
require  the  same  qualifications  as  a  missionary  at 
Smyrna,  but  not  more ;  for  the  ancient  learning  of  the 
Jews  of  Constantinople  is  nearly  gone.  The  obstacles, 
too,  are  the  very  same  as  in  Smyrna,  with  the  addition, 
perhaps,  of  greater  political  power,  and  more  bitter  and 
watchful  jealousy  on  the  part  of  the  rabbis.  But  many 
of  the  people  are  weary  of  the  bondage  in  which  their 
rabbis  keep  them.  It  is  of  consequence,  also,  to  remem¬ 
ber,  that  any  impression  made  on  the  Karaites  of  this 
city,  whose  friendliness  to  Christians  seems  like  the  Ma¬ 
cedonian  cry,  “Come  over  and  help  us,”  would  soon 
reach  their  brethren  of  the  same  community  in  the  Cri¬ 
mea,  and  other  parts  of  the  world.  Indeed,  we  may  well 
ask,  Why  have  not  special  advances  been  made  to  this 
class  of  Jews  ere  now?  They  are  far  less  bewildered 
by  tradition  and  prejudice  than  their  brethren  ;  and  the 
veil  seems  not  to  be  so  closely  drawn  over  their  heart  as 
over  that  of  their  brethren.  Oh  that  God  would  raise 
up  some  devoted  missionary  to  carry  to  them  the  good 
tidings  of  the  Gospel !  “  Oh  that  the  salvation  of  Israel 

were  come  out  of  Zion  /” 


365 


CHAPTER  VII. 

WALLACHIA — MOLDAVIA. 

“Who  shall  bemoan  thee?  or  who  shall  go  aside  to  ask  how  thou 
doest?” — Jer.  xv.  5. 


Early  in  the  morning  of  Aug.  26,  the  steamer  from 
Smyrna  arrived  in  the  harbour  of  Constantinople,  and, 
with  heartfelt  gratitude  and  joy,  we  found  Mr.  M‘Cheyne 
on  board,  wonderfully  recovered,  and  able  to  proceed 
on  the  voyage.  A  few  hours  after,  we  took  farewell  of 
our  kind  American  brethren,  who  had  made  their  house 
our  home,  and  sailed  for  the  Danube.  The  steamer  in 
which  we  sailed  was  named  “  Ferdinando  Prirno,”  and 
though  belonging  to  an  Austrian  company,  was  com¬ 
manded  by  a  kind,  intelligent  Englishman.  The  well- 
known  Prince  Piccolomusci  was  on  board,  on  his  way 
home  to  Germany  from  Abyssinia,  from  which  country 
he  had  brought  a  ransomed  female  slave,  and  several 
Nubian  boys.  As  we  left  the  harbour,  we  enjoyed  our 
last  view  of  this  wonderful  city.  The  marble  towers  and 
dark  green  cypresses  of  the  Seraglio,  the  ample  dome 
of  St.  Sophia,  the  towering  mosques,  and  the  crescent*  on 
at  least  ninety  minarets  that  rise  over  the  red-tiled  houses 
of  the  city,  were  all  glowing  beneath  the  rays  of  a  noon¬ 
day  sun.  We  were  able  to  sit  on  the  deck,  and  enjoy 
the  scenery  all  the  way  up  the  Bosphorus ;  but  soon  after 
entering  the  Black  Sea,  a  head-wind  sprung  up,  and  we 
experienced  something  of  the  storms  that  led  the  ancients 
to  call  it  “  “the  inhospitable  sea.”  We  did  not, 

however,  experience  any  of  those  thick  dark  fogs  which 
often  envelope  its  bosom,  and  are  said  to  have  suggested 
the  modern  name.  We  forgot  to  look  for  the  famous 
rocky  islands  about  two  miles  north  of  the  entrance, 

*  May  not  this  emblem  of  Turkish  power  be  derived  from  the  horn , 
go  common  as  a  figure  of  strength  and  dominion  in  Eastern  countries? 
The  crescent  would  thus  be  like  the  two  horns  in  1  Kings  xxii.  11 


BLACK  SEA — VARNA, 


367 


known  to  the  ancients  by  the  name  of  Cyaneae  or  Symp~ 
legacies.  It  was  fabled  by  the  unskilful,  and  therefore 
timid  navigators,  of  those  days,  that  these  rocks  used  to 
dash  on  each  other ;  and  the  renowned  ship  Argo  ran  no 
small  risk  in  passing  between  them.  Our  vessel,  how¬ 
ever,  knew  none  of  these  dangers,  although,  in  search  of 
the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel,  we  were  traversing 
the  same  dangerous  seas  which  Jason  and  his  band  ex¬ 
plored,  when  they  sought  the  Golden  Fleece.  These 
shores  used  to  be  thickly  set  with  altars,  and  other  de¬ 
vout  tokens  of  gratitude  for  deliverance,  which  seamen 
erected  in  honour  of  their  gods. 

Next  morning  the  sea  was  like  a  sheet  of  glass,  and 
we  found  ourselves  rapidly  sailing  along  the  western 
shore.  The  coast  was  low,  and  the  country  nearly  flat, 
so  that  the  eye  wandered  over  plains  partially  wooded, 
without  any  marked  object  to  arrest  it.  We  passed 
Cape  Emineh  Bourun,  which  is  the  termination  of  the 
range  of  the  Balkan, — the  renowned  Hoemus  of  ancient 
days.  Between  this  range  and  the  Danube  lay  the  coun¬ 
try  called  Moesia.  At  noon,  we  anchored  opposite  the 
town  of  Varna,  which  occupies  the  site  of  the  ancient 
Odyssus.  It  is  128  miles  from  the  Bosphorus,  and  stands 
on  the  flat  shore  of  a  fine  bay.  The  houses  are  all  of 
wood,  low-built  and  red-tiled,  with  eight  minarets  rising 
over  them ;  and  a  white  wall,  with  musket  loop-holes, 
surrounds  the  town.  We  landed,  and  after  going  through 
the  ceremonies  of  fumigation  for  a  few  minutes,  entered 
the  town,  and  wandered  through  its  half-deserted  streets. 
There  was  pointed  out  to  us  the  pass  in  the  neighbour¬ 
ing  hills  where  the  Russian  army  was  attacked  by  the 
Turks.  In  the  streets  we  met  some  Jewish  children,  and 
a  little  after  three  German  Jews,  one  of  whom  was  bit¬ 
terly  complaining  of  having  been  left  here  by  the  captain 
of  the  last  steamer,  contrary  to  promise.  “  The  precious 
sons  of  Zion,  comparable  to  fine  gold,  how  are  they  es¬ 
teemed  as  earthen  pitchers,  the  work  of  the  hands  of  the 
potter !”  * 

At  three  o’clock  we  re-embarked  and  left  the  bay  of 
Varna.  It  was  a  fine  calm  evening,  and  the  eye  could 
see  to  a  great  distance.  No  land  appeared  to  the  east, 
but  a  few  distant  sails  lay  on  the  line  of  the  horizon. 
The  western  coast  now  became  elevated  and  picturesque. 
A  range  of  bold  white  cliffs  overhung  the  sea,  terminat¬ 
ing  in  Cape  Kalacria,  the  ancient  Tiri stria ;  and  the 

*  Lara.  iv.  2. 


368  BANKS  OF  THE  EUXINE— -RIVER  DANOBE. 

highest  point  of  the  promontory  was  surmounted  by  the 
rums  of  an  old  Genoese  castle.  The  bay  is  called  Ka- 
varna,  and  this  is  the  course  of  that  Pontus  which  the 
Roman  poet  Ovid  has  made  famous  by  his  letters.  We 
must  have  passed  soon  after  near  the  place  of  the  same 
poet’s  exile,  Tomi  in  Sarmatia;  and  by  this  time  we 
were  prepared  to  understand  the  description  of  his  voy¬ 
age,  given  in  his  Elegies.* 

Next  morning  (Aug.  28,)  the  Euxine  was  still  calm  like 
an  inland  lake.  Multitudes  of  porpoises  were  playing  m 
the  water  near  the  vessel,  no  doubt  the  dolphins  describ¬ 
ed  by  Ovid.f  About  seven  o’clock  the  Five  Mountains 
came  in  sight.  They  are  situated  about  thirty  miles 
from  the  coast  and  south  of  the  Danube,  aie  of  a  regular 
shape,  and  stand  in  a  line,  not  unlike  a  few  porpoises 
following  one  another.  A  little  further  on  we  passed 
the  south-west  mouth  of  the  Danube,  and  soon  after  an¬ 
other  of  its  mouths,  marked  only  by  the  deep  woods  up¬ 
on  its  banks.  The  sea  now  exchanged  its  clear  deep 
blue  for  a  clay  colour,  being  tinged  by  the  muddy  waters 
of  the  river ;  and  the  depth  was  only  five  fathoms.  The 
coast  was  flat  and  low,  marked  by  nothing  but  the  tall  reeds 
that  skirted  it,  and  the  trees  beyond.  Two  large  flocks 
of  pelicans  were  dipping  themselves  in  the  water.  About 
midday  our  vessel  entered  the  Danube  by  the  mouth 
called  Seluna.  A  Russian  village  was  near,  at  which 
several  vessels  were  anchored.  The  rapidity  of  the 
stream  and  the  shallowness  of  the  channel  make  the  na¬ 
vigation  at  the  entrance  very  dangerous,  so  that  many 
vessels  are  wrecked  here.  Indeed,  it  is  said  that  the 
chief  dangers  attending  the  navigation  of  the  Black  Sea  are 
to  be  attributed  to  the  rivers  that  flow  into  it.  There 
are  nearly  forty  rivers  which  empty  themselves  into  it, 
and  these  are  continually  altering  the  channel  by  the 
large  deposits  of  mud  which  they  carry  down.  Here 
the  “dark-flowing”  Danube  appeared  to  be  about  the 
breadth  of  the  Forth  immediately  above  Alloa,  but  much 
more  rapid.  The  territory  on  the  right  hand  was  Bess¬ 
arabia,  under  the  dominion  of  Russia.  A  few  wretched 
huts  of  reeds,  plastered  over  with  mud,  appeared  on  the 
bank,  before  which  some  Russian  sentinels  were  patroll¬ 
ing  to  guard  the  frontier.  A  vessel  lay  at  anchor  near, 
bearing  the  Russian  flag.  As  we  sailed  slowly  up  the 
river,  the  banks  continued  flat  and  uninteresting,  cov¬ 
ered  with  reeds  and  bordered  by  marshes.  Before  sun- 
*  Trist.  i.  10.  +  Trist.  iii.  x.  43. 


MOSQUITOES — 'PRINCE  PICCOLOMUSCI — GALATZ.  369 

set  we  got  a  near  view  of  the  Five  Mountains,  which, 
after  all,  owe  the  notice  taken  of  them  chiefly  to  the  level 
plains  which  surround  them,  for  they  are  not  very  high. 

We  anchored  for  half  an  hour  at  Tultsha,  a  Turkish 
town  on  the  Bulgarian  or  southern  bank,  fixing  the  an¬ 
chor  to  a  tree.  The  vessel  was  now  in  the  branch  of 
the  river  called  the  St.  George’s  branch,  which  forms  the 
limit  of  the  Russian  dominions,  and  there  expands  into 
a  lake.  The  vapours  from  the  river  made  the  full  moon 
appear  very  large,  and  its  rays  fell  with  a  peculiar  glare 
upon  the  water.  Mosquitoes  became  every  hour  more 
harassing ;  indeed,  one  of  the  most  painful  trials  in  sail¬ 
ing  up  the  Danube  is  occasioned  by  the  myriads  of  these 
annoying  insects.  The  veils  which  we  had  brought  with 
us  for  the  purpose,  failed  to  answer  the  end  of  keeping 
out  these  unwelcome  visitors,  and  sleep  was  driven  from 
our  eyes. 

During  this  voyage,  we  had  many  interesting  conver¬ 
sations  with  the  captain  of  the  vessel  and  with  the  Prince. 
The  latter  told  us  that  he  had  been  educated  when  a  boy 
at  a  Moravian  seminary,  and  that  he  used  to  weep  at 
the  story  of  the  sufferings  of  Jesus;  but  he  had  after¬ 
wards  attended  one  of  the  Neologian  Universities  of 
Germany,  where  the  seeds  of  infidelity  were  sown  in  his 
heart.  And  now  he  had  cast  off  the  authority  of  the 
Bible,  seemed  scarcely  to  believe  in  a  God,  and  held 
Pythagorean  notions  as  to  the  transmigration  of  souls. 
We  were  enabled  to  bear  an  honest  testimony  to  this 
bewildered  man,  showing,  chiefly  from  what  we  had  so 
lately  witnessed  of  fulfilled  prophecy,  that  the  Bible  was 
the  Word  of  God,  and  proving  from  that  Word  his  ruin¬ 
ed  condition  and  the  great  salvation. 

(Aug.  29.)  Before  daybreak  we  had  reached  Galatz, 
the  part  of  Moldavia  near  which  we  intended  to  perform 
our  quarantine.  We  were  not  allowed  to  land,  but,  leav¬ 
ing  the  steamer,  sailed  down  to  the  quarantine  station, 
two  miles  below.  Here,  in  an  elevated  situation,  we 
found  a  large  enclosure  of  wood,  with  many  wooden 
cottages  in  the  centre,  one  of  which  was  to  be  our  place 
of  confinement  for  a  week.  It  formed  a  striking  contrast 
to  our  quarantine  at  the  foot  of  Carmel,  but  the  atmos¬ 
phere  was  cooler,  and  we  felt  that  we  were  on  European 
ground.  The  only  objects  visible  around  were  the  low 
dusty  hills  between  us  and  Galatz,  and  on  the  west,  the 
hills  of  the  Little  Balkan,  and  the  Five  Mountains  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  Danube. 

33* 


370  GALATZ— -QUARANTINE— VICE-CONSUL. 

As  night  came  on,  we  were  at  a  loss  how  to  procure 
necessary  articles  of  food;  no  guardiano  had  been  yet 
appointed  to  serve  us,  and  the  keeper  of  the  locanda 
or  store,  where  provisions  are  supplied  to  those  in  quar¬ 
antine  by  means  of  a  board  on  which  they  are  placed, 
could  speak  no  language  but  Romaic  and  Wallachian. 
Besides,  not  being  aware  of  the  difficulty  of  procuring 
articles  of  comfort  in  a  quarantine  station,  we  had  pro¬ 
vided  nothing  for  such  an  emergency,  except  mats  for 
the  night,  which  we  brought  from  Constantinople.  We 
now  found  the  benefit  of  being  inured  to  the  rude  life  of 
those  who  dwell  in  tents. 

Next  morning,  however,  we  were  visited  by  a  coun¬ 
tryman  of  our  own,  Charles  Cunningham,  Esq.,  British 
Vice-Consul  at  Galatz,  who,  with  the  utmost  kindness, 
procured  for  us  all  we  needed.  We,  and  all  that  we  had, 
underwent  a  thorough  fumigation,  our  clothes  being  sus¬ 
pended  in  the  smoke  for  twenty-four  hours.  We  were 
then  removed  into  a  more  comfortable  apartment,  and  a 
guardiano  was  appointed  to  take  charge  of  us,  a  poor 
Russian  named  Constandi,  very  devout  in  observing  the 
usages  of  the  Greek  Church. 

We  had  now  leisure  to  look  around  and  think  upon 
the  region  which  we  had  entered.  We  had  entered  the 
ancient  Dacia;  the  river  before  us  was  the  Ister,  and 
the  people  who  were  driving  along  their  clumsy  vehicles, 
dressed  in  linen  frock-coats,  with  broad  leathern  girdles, 
and  Roman  sandals  of  skin  on  their  feet,  uncombed  hair 
hanging  over  brow  and  neck  from  under  broad-brimmed 
black  hats,  are  descendants  of  the  barbarians  who  so 
often  troubled  the  Empire  of  Rome.  We  saw  large  herds 
of  dun  cattle  on  the  wide  pasture  land,  and  on  the  roads 
clumsy  carts,  drawn  by  oxen,  creaked  loudly  as  they 
went  along.*  Occasionally  ships  coming  up  the  river 
gave  a  pleasant  variety  to  the  scene.  A  soldier  guarded 
the  quarantine,  wearing  a  European  coat  and  trousers 
of  clean  white  fustian,  with  a  black  belt  and  black  cap, 
his  musket  on  his  shoulder.  Between  us  and  the  town 
lay  the  rude  tents  of  a  company  of  Zingans  or  Gipsies, 
engaged  in  making  bricks.  Before  sunset  some  heavy 
drops  of  rain  fell,  the  first  that  had  refreshed  us  since  we 
left  the  moist  shores  of  England.  It  was  accompanied 
with  loud  thunder. 

*  Ovid.  Trist.  iii.  10,  59,  has  noticed  these  features  of  this  region : — 

“  Ruris  opes  parvae,  pecus  et  stridentia  plaustra .” 


SABBATH — GALATZ. 


371 


Sabbath  came  on,  and  brought  with  it  its  holy  peace. 
We  worshipped  together  in  our  apartment,  and  in  the 
evening  spoke  with  a  Jew  from  Jerusalem  who  had  ar¬ 
rived  in  the  quarantine. 

In  the  evenings,  our  guardiano  Costandi,  good-natured 
but  slow  in  every  motion,  used  to  light  a  fire  on  the 
floor  and  smoke  the  room  to  free  us  from  the  mosquitoes, 
and  then  came  in  to  pour  water  on  our  hands.  Our  only 
walk  during  the  day  was  within  the  limits  of  the  quaran¬ 
tine,  commanding  a  view  of  the  river.  We  often  sat 
watching  the  varied  shades  and  colours  on  its  surface, 
or  the  course  of  some  skiff  passing  up  or  down,  or  some¬ 
times  the  leaping  of  the  fish,  and  the  wild  fowl  floating 
on  the  stream.  The  air  was  generally  pleasant,  and  the 
heat  not  very  great.  Sometimes  at  sunset  the  people 
on  the  opposite  heights  appeared  to  be  of  gigantic  sta¬ 
ture. 

The  Vice-Consul  visited  us  a  second  time  to  make  ar¬ 
rangements  for  our  leaving  quarantine,  and  from  him  we 
received  much  important  information  regarding  the  pro¬ 
vince  of  Moldavia.  It  is  an  interesting  country,  but  far 
behind  in  civilization.  It  is  only  lately  that  Galatz  has 
got  any  thing  like  an  inn.  The  Government  oppress  the 
people  by  taxes ;  and  every  landed  proprietor  is  allowed 
to  exact  from  the  peasants  eighty  days’  labour  in  the 
year,  besides  receiving  one-tenth  of  all  they  possess. 
Labour,  however,  brings  a  good  price ;  a  labourer  may 
earn  six  piastres  a-day,  and  a  piastre  here  will  purchase 
2  lbs.  of  meat.  The  country  is  very  fertile  if  it  were 
cultivated ;  indeed,  it  is  called  “  The  Peru  of  the  Greeks 
but  many  of  its  vast  plains  are  lying  waste.  There  are 
400,000  oxen  killed  annually  for  the  production  of  tallow, 
and  about  250,000  sheep  are  carried  every  year  to  the 
market  of  Constantinople.  The  languages  used  by  the 
higher  classes  are  chiefly  Modern  Greek  and  French. 
The  Wallachian  is  the  native  dialect,  and  is  used  by  all 
the  common  people.  The  religion  of  Moldavia  and  Wal- 
lachia  is  that  of  the  Greek  Church.  A  few  strangers 
in  Galatz,  who  are  Roman  Catholics,  have  lately  erected 
a  chapel  for  their  own  use. 

There  are  many  Jews  in  Galatz,  but  most  of  them  in  a 
very  degraded  condition.  The  English  Consul’s  duty 
here  is  to  protect  the  mercantile  interests  of  British  sub¬ 
jects,  and  these  are  chiefly  Greeks  from  the  Ionian  Is¬ 
lands.  The  Gipsies  or  Zingans  (a  name,  according  to 


372 


GALATZ — GIPSIES — NOBLES — PRIESTS. 


some,  derived  from  Zoan,  the  ancient  capital  of  Egypt 
though  others  trace  it  to  the  famous  Tartar  conqueror,) 
are  in  this  province  about  18,000  in  number,  and  in  Wal- 
lachia  there  are  80,000.  They  are  almost  all  slaves 
bought  and  sold  at  pleasure.  One  was  lately  sold  for 
200  piastres ;  but  the  general  price  is  500.  Perhaps  3/.  is 
the  average  price,  and  the  female  Zingans  are  sold  much 
cheaper.  The  sale  is  generally  carried  on  by  private 
bargain.  Their  appearance  is  similar  to  that  of  Gipsies 
in  other  countries,  being  all  dark,  with  fine  black  eyes, 
and  long  black  hair.  They  have  a  language  peculiar  to 
themselves,  and  though  they  seem  to  have  no  system  of 
religion,  yet  are  very  superstitious  in  observing  lucky 
and  unlucky  days.  The  men  are  the  best  mechanics  in 
the  country ;  so  that  smiths  and  masons  are  taken  from 
this  class.  The  women  are  considered  the  best  cooks, 
and  therefore  almost  every  wealthy  family  has  a  Zingan 
cook.  They  are  all  fond  of  music,  both  vocal  and  in¬ 
strumental,  and  excel  in  it.  There  is  a  class  of  them 
called  the  Turkish  Zingans,  who  have  purchased  their 
freedom  from  Government,  but  these  are  few  in  number, 
and  all  from  Turkey.  Of  these  latter,  there  are  twelve 
families  in  Galatz.  The  men  are  employed  as  horse- 
dealers,  and  the  women  in  making  bags,  sacks,  and  such 
articles.  In  winter  they  live  in  town,  and  almost  under¬ 
ground  ;  but  in  summer  they  pitch  their  tents  in  the  open 
air,  for  though  still  within  the  bounds  of  the  town,  yet 
they  would  not  live  in  their  winter  houses  during 
summer. 

The  Boyards  or  nobles  of  the  country  are  not  men 
of  education,  and  spend  their  time  chiefly  in  idle  amuse¬ 
ments,  such  as  balls  and  playing  cards.  The  Greek 
priests  of  Moldavia  are  low  in  character ;  so  much  so, 
that  half  a  dozen  of  them  may  be  found  openly  drinking 
in  a  tavern  at  any  hour  of  the  day.  Though  they  are 
priests,  yet  they  often  carry  on  business,  and  they  op¬ 
pose  the  Bible. 

(Sept.  5.)  Early  in  the  morning,  we  left  our  quaran¬ 
tine,  glad  to  be  once  more  at  liberty.  On  our  way  to 
Galatz,  we  got  a  nearer  view  of  the  colony  of  Zingans. 
Their  whole  appearance  reminded  us  of  the  poor  villagers 
on  the  banks  of  the  Nile.  They  were  clothed  in  rags, 
and  their  little  children  were  carried  naked  on  the 
shoulder,  or  at  the  side,  in  the  very  manner  of  the  Egyp¬ 
tians.  They  were  toiling  in  the  sun  at  the  laborious 


GIPSIES-  -INHABITANTS. 


373 


work  of  making  bricks.  The  sight  at  once  recalled  the 
days  when  their  fathers  “  made  the  children  of  Israel  to 
serve  with  rigour  ”  in  the  same  way ;  “  The  Egyptians 
made  their  lives  bitter  with  hard  bondage  in  mortar  and 
in  brick,  and  in  all  manner  of  service  in  the  field.”  *  If 
these  are  really  the  descendants  of  the  people  of  Pha¬ 
raoh,  as  their  name,  features,  and  customs,  seem  clearly 
to  prove,  they  are  an  example  of  the  retributive  justice 
of  God  in  his  dealings  with  the  nations  that  afflict  Israel. 
It  seems  every  way  probable,  that  these  long-despised 
wanderers  are  fulfilling  the  thrice-repeated  prophecy,  “/ 
will  scatter  the  Egyptians  among  the  nations,  and  vnll 
disperse  them  through  the  countries ,”  “ and  they  shall 
know  that  I  am  the  Lord”  f  May  it  not  be  worthy  of 
the  consideration  of  those  benevolent  persons  who  have 
taken  up  the  cause  of  the  Gipsies  in  our  own  land, 
whether  it  might  not  be  possible  to  extend  their  labours, 
so  as  to  send  the  light  of  the  Gospel  to  these  benighted 
exiles  in  other  countries  1  Their  numbers,  their  ignor¬ 
ance,  their  degradation,  call  loudly  for  the  help  of  a 
Christian  Missionary. 

The  appearance  of  the  country  was  quite  new  to  us, 
and  Galatz,  embosomed  in  acacia  trees,  appeared  pleas¬ 
ant  to  our  eyes,  accustomed  to  the  dismal  walls  of  the 
quarantine.  No  tree  is  so  frequent  in  this  region  as  the 
acacia-tree,  and  we  were  told  that,  at  Galatz,  Odessa, 
and  some  other  places  near,  no  tree  thrives  so  well. 
Everywhere  we  met  patient  oxen,  and  sometimes  strings 
of  small  horses,  four  or  even  eight  at  once,  dragging  un¬ 
wieldy  wagons,  which  go  creaking  along  the  highway. 
The  driver  guides  the  oxen  by  striking  them  on  the  head. 
The  constant  creaking  of  the  unoiled  wheels  of  the  wag¬ 
ons,  giving  loud  notice  of  their  presence,  has  given  rise 
to  assaying,  that  “no  one  greases  his  wheels  except 
rogues  and  thieves.”  In  winter  it  is  not  uncommon  to 
see  twenty  oxen  yoked  to  a  single  wagon.  These  re¬ 
minded  us  of  the  prayer  of  David,  “  that  our  oxen  may 
be  strong  to  labour.”  { 

Galatz  contains  above  10,000  inhabitants.  Many  of 
the  streets  are  paved  with  wooden  planks  laid  across, 
something  after  the  manner  of  American  corduroy. 
Many  are  totally  unpaved,  and  consequently  dusty  in 
summer,  and  miry  in  winter.  The  houses  are  chiefly 
built  of  wood,  white-washed,  and  covered  over  with 

*  Exod.  i.  14.  t  Ezek.  xxix.  12 — 16 ;  xxx.  23—26.  f  Ps.  cxliv.  14, 


374 


GALATZ — -YPSIL.  ANTI—— JEWISH  RABBI. 


clay.  Even  the  churches  are  wooden  edifices.  Brandy- 
shops  abound  in  every  street.  In  the  market,  we  saw 
the  cusa,  so  common  in  Syria,  exposed  for  sale.  We 
were  interested  in  the  number  of  Jews  we  met,  and  the 
numbers  we  saw  busy  in  their  shops.  All  wear  the 
broad  German  hat  or  Russian  fur-cap,  and  Polish  gown. 
All  have  the  mustach,  beard,  and  ringlets,  and  all  ap¬ 
peared  to  be  either  mechanics,  or  money-changers,  seated 
at  little  tables  on  the  street.  The  people  seem  very  in¬ 
dustrious,  not,  as  in  the  East,  sitting  lazily  with  the  pipe 
in  their  mouth.  The  women  share  in  the  general  indus¬ 
try.  They  spin  from  the  distaff  even  when  walking  to 
and  fro.  Their  dress  is  not  very  peculiar,  except  the 
head-dress,  which  is  generally  a  shawl  over  the  head, 
fastened  under  the  chin.  It  is  often  white,  resembling 
that  of  the  Genoese  women.  The  soldiers  oppress  the 
people.  A  few  days  ago,  a  party  of  soldiers  came  to  a 
man  who  had  got  leave  to  fish  for  an  hour  on  the  river, 
entered  his  boat,  took  away  his  written  permission,  and 
then  laid  claim  to  all  the  fish  he  had  caught. 

On  the  top  of  one  of  the  steeples,  we  observed  a  large 
stork’s  nest.  These  are  often  seen  also  upon  the  chim¬ 
ney-tops  of  the  houses ;  for  the  chimneys  are  built  with 
a  covering  on  the  top,  and  open  at  the  sides.  The  na¬ 
tives  do  not  often  allow  these  to  be  disturbed,  as  that 
would  be  considered  unlucky.  These  remarkable  birds 
come  regularly  on  the  16th  of  April;  “Yea,  the  stork  in 
the  heaven  knoweth  her  appointed  time,”  *  so  that  you 
may  calculate  upon  their  appearance  to  a  day. 

The  burying-grounds  are  near  the  entrance  of  the 
town ;  and  not  far  from  the  fosse  that  surrounds  Galatz, 
is  a  mound  of  earth  that  marks  the  spot  where,  during 
the  late  Greek  revolution,  Ypsilanti  and  600  Greeks 
bravely  defended  themselves  till  they  were  cut  in  pieces 
by  5000  Turks. 

In  the  afternoon  we  set  out  to  visit  the  Jews  of  Galatz. 
We  entered  the  shop  of  a  respectable  money-changer, 
who,  after  making  our  acquaintance,  put  on  his  best  broad 
hat,  and  conducted  us  to  the  Rabbi,  whom  we  found  in 
the  court  of  his  house.  He  was  a  mild  intelligent  man, 
with  the  eye  of  a  student ;  at  first  he  seemed  suspicious 
of  us,  because  (as  we  learned  afterwards)  the  Greek 
Church  persecutes  him,  and  hearing  that  we  were  Chris¬ 
tians,  he  supposed  that  we  were  Greeks.  We  told  him 


*  Jer.  viii.  7. 


JEWISH  SYNAGOGUE — DRIVE  TO  IERAILA. 


375 


our  object  in  coming  from  Scotland  to  visit  the  lost  sheep 
of  the  house  of  Israel,  and  our  desire  for  their  salvation. 
We  were  then  conducted  to  the  Synagogue,  a  poor,  small 
edifice,  with  a  still  smaller  one  adjoining.  Two  or  three 
Jews  gathered  round  us ;  and  one  old  Jew  was  busily 
engaged  in  devotion — an  ignorant  man,  but  of  a  serious 
cast  of  countenance.  At  the  door  was  a  collection-box, 
with  this  inscription,  “  dn  nap'  nnop  jnn  nppi” — “  Alms — a 
gift  in  secret  pacifieth  anger”  This  started  a  conver¬ 
sation  in  regard  to  the  manner  of  pleasing  God,  and  turn¬ 
ing  away  his  anger.  They  spoke  of  their  brethren  in 
other  places.  We  asked  if  the  Jews  here  collected  for 
those  in  the  Holy  Land :  they  said,  that  they  did,  at  all 
their  marriages.  They  have  no  school  for  their  children ; 
but  as  a  substitute,  they  put  several  children  under  the 
occasional  instruction  of  one  of  their  number.  The  Jew 
who  acted  as  our  guide  said  that  he  heard  there  were 
now  “Epicureans  (that  is,  unbelievers)  even  at  Jeru¬ 
salem,  and  that  they  had  built  a  synagogue  there.”  He 
referred  no  doubt  to  the  Christian  church  now  building 
on  Zion,  and  the  few  converts  already  gathered  in  Jeru¬ 
salem.  They  said  that  they  could  not  but  hate  Chris¬ 
tians,  for  they  were  everywhere  oppressed  by  them.  For 
example,  the  preceding  year,  some  Jews  had  caricatured 
» the  Greek  priests  and  their  religious  service  in  a  play — 
in  consequence  of  which,  twelve  of  their  number  were 
cast  into  prison,  and  forced  to  pay  5000  ducats  to  save 
their  lives.  The  Ionian  Greeks  also  burn  a  Jew  in  effigy 
every  year  at  Easter,  though  the  Government  has  at  last 
forbid  it.  They  asked  us,  “  if  we  belonged  to  the  Epi¬ 
cureans” — and  on  hearing  us  quote  Hebrew  texts,  they 
would  scarcely  be  persuaded  that  we  were  Christians. 
They  have  no  idea  of  a  Christian  possessed  of  feelings 
of  kindness  and  love  towards  them.  Few  of  them  speak 
Hebrew,  all  use  German,  and  they  also  know  the  Wal- 
lachian  language.  They  said  that  they  had  no  want  of 
employment,  and  that  every  one  had  a  trade.  Most  of 
the  money-changers  are  Jews.  The  rabbi  said  that  there 
were  500  Jews  in  Galatz ;  but  the  Vice-Consul  thought 
that  there  must  be  2000. 

In  the  evening,  Mr.  Cunningham  conveyed  us  in  his 
brisca  to  Ibraila,  the  port  of  Wallachia,  three  hours  dis¬ 
tant.  The  drive  was  interesting;  more  because  of  the 
novelty  of  our  circumstances,  than  because  of  any  pecu¬ 
liar  beauty  in  the  country.  The  fields  seem  often  un- 


3  76 


IBRAILA-— SCENERY — POST-CART. 


cultivated;  and  many  parts  of  the  wide  level  plain 
were  for  the  most  part  unenclosed  and  waste,  some¬ 
times  covered  with  reeds,  which  show  that  it  is  frequently 
under  water.  We  passed  some  peaceful  cottages  that 
forcibly  recalled  the  scenes  of  home  to  mind.  At  one 
cottage,  a  woman  was  churning  butter ;  at  some  others, 
some  “  Dacian  mothers”  were  sitting  at  the  door,  talking 
together  and  observing  the  strangers.  Another  woman 
met  us,  driving  home  her  cow,  while  she  held  the  distaff 
in  her  hand.  The  people  seemed  industrious  and  peace- 
ful— but  has  “  the  Son  of  Peace”  been  here  1  Immense 
herds  of  oxen,  all  of  the  same  dun  colour,  were  feeding 
in  different  places,  and  large  handsome  dogs,  between 
the  greyhound  and  sheep-dog,  often  sprung  out  from  a 
cottage  door  as  we  passed.  We  came  about  twilight  to  the 
river  Seret,  a  tributary  of  the  Danube,  which  is  crossed 
by  a  boat  drawn  across  by  a  rope.  This  is  the  boundary 
between  Moldavia  and  Wallachia,  as  we  soon  learned 
by  the  trouble  which  the  custom-house  officer  wished  to 
give  us,  although  we  had  got  a  written  permission  from 
Galatz.  Like  all  such  petty  officers  in  these  countries, 
he  wished  to  extort  money,  but  the  Consul’s  authority 
at  last  quelled  his  interference,  and  we  crossed  over  to 
the  Wallachian  territory.  It  was  dark  when  we  reached 
Ibraila,  where  we  were  comfortably  quartered  in  the 
apartments  of  Mr.  Lloyd,  the  Wallachian  Vice-Consul. 

(Sept.  6.)  We  had  made  preparations  for  starting  by 
daybreak  on  our  way  to  Bucharest.  When  we  awoke 
we  found  that  the  rain  fell  heavily.  This  was  like  meet¬ 
ing  an  old  friend,  for  we  had  not  seen  a  rainy  morning 
since  leaving  Scotland;  but  the  time  was  not  the 
most  suitable  for  us.  The  ordinary  way  of  travelling 
in  this  country  is  by  a  post-cart,  which  is  a  vehicle 


rude  in  the  extreme,  being  entirely  of  wood,  the 
frame  slight,  the  sides  made  of  coarse  wicker-work, 
<he  wheels  small.  The  harness  is  made  of  ropes  or  cords, 
some  of  which  on  this  occasion  had  given  way,  but 
were  retied  for  further  use.  The  interior  is  filled 


IBRAIL A—  ORNAMENTED  CROSS.  3 77 

with  straw,  among  which  the  traveller  sits  or  lies  as  he 
best  can.  Three  of  these  carts  stood  at  the  door,  each 
having  four  small  Wallachian  horses.  We  were  ready 
to  start ;  but  Mr.  Cunningham  prevailed  on  us  to  defer 
our  journey,  as  the  sky  was  dark  and  lowering,  and  one 
of  our  number  was  little  able  to  bear  the  hardships  to 
which  we  would  be  exposed.  With  the  most  disinter¬ 
ested  and  considerate  kindness,  Mr.  C.  sent  back  to  Ga~ 
latz  for  his  brashovanca,  a  covered  travelling  carriage 
without  springs,  capable  of  holding  four,  and  this  he  in¬ 
sisted  upon  our  using  until  we  reached  Jassy. 

Throughout  the  day  we  visited  the  town.  It  is  clean 
and  airy,  with  broad  streets,  of  which  a  few  were  cause¬ 
wayed.  Many  of  the  houses  were  of  brick,  but  the  most 
were  only  one  story  high.  Acacia-trees  were  planted 
round  them,  and  here,  too,  we  saw  for  the  last  time  olive- 
trees  full  grown.  The  ornamented  double  cross  on  the 

Greek  churches,  attracts  the 
eye  by  its  glittering  in  the  sun, 
being  either  gilded  or  made 
of  polished  tin.  Alas !  they 
hide  the  divine  glory  that 
shines  from  the  true  cross  of 
Christ,  and  try  to  make  up  for 
what  they  hide  by  dazzling 
the  carnal  eye  with  its  gilded 
image.  The  stork’s  nest  was 
common  here  as  in  Galatz, 
and  in  one  courtyard  two  or 
three  tame  storks  were  walk¬ 
ing  about,  no  one  venturing 
to  injure  them.  In  the  Ba¬ 
zaar,  stones  were  used  for 
weights,  as  in  the  East.  The  Danube  flows  deep  and 
full  past  the  town.  The  trade  in  grain  is  increasing,  and 
the  town  rapidly  rising  into  importance.  It  has  at  pre¬ 
sent  a  thriving  population  of  6000. 

The  dress  of  the  Wallachian  is  similar  to  that  of  the 
Moldavian,  but  as  the  day  was  wet,  many  of  the  peasants 
wore  a  coat  made  of  rough  sheep-skin  with  the  wool  in¬ 
side,  and  a  cap  of  the  same.  We  met  several  Russians 
in  the  streets,  known  by  their  long  high  hats,  peculiar 
physiognomy,  and  light  blue  eye.  The  peasantry  take 
off  their  hats  when  they  meet  you,  and  a  bayard  in  his 
carriage  saluted  us  in  the  same  fashion.  There  are  not 

34 


378 


IBR  AIL  A— ’TRACTS — JEWS. 


many  violent  crimes  committed  in  these  provinces ;  but 
scarcely  any  thing  can  exceed  the  deep  and  wide-spread 
immorality  in  private. 

Near  the  entrance  of  the  town,  there  is  an  ancient  Ro¬ 
man  fort,  situated  on  a  small  rising  ground.  There,  too 
is  a  village  of  the  JLipuwanni,  or  eunuchs,  a  sect  ot  Chris 
tians  expelled  from  Russia.  We  entered  the  shop  of  a 
Jewish  watchmaker,  a  pleasant  gentle  young  man  from 
Odessa,  who  had  settled  here  to  escape  being  taken  as  a 
recruit  into  the  Russian  army,  the  ukase  having  ordered 
twelve  men  to  be  taken  out  of  every  hundred,  including 
both  Jews  and  Christians.  He  told  us  that  there  are 
thirty  Jewish  families  here,  who  have  an  old  synagogue, 
which  is  very  small ;  but  that  eight  German  families  from 
Vienna  are  building  a  new  one  for  themselves,  because, 
few  as  they  are,  there  is  a  disunion  among  them.  They 
have  no  rabbi,  and  hence  every  one  tries  to  be  above 
the  other,  and  does  what  is  right  in  his  own  eyes.  He 
said  that  he  had  in  his  possession  two  tracts  addressed 
to  Jews,  distributed  by  missionaries  at  Jerusalem,  and 
brought  here  by  a  travelling  Jew,  for  no  missionary  had 
ever  visited  this  country.  This  simple  account  con¬ 
vinced  us  of  the  vast  importance  of  furnishing  our  mis¬ 
sionaries  with  abundance  of  clear,  spiritual,  and  pungent 
tracts  addressed  to  the  Jews.  Who  can  tell  to  what 
bosom  the  good  seed  may  be  carried,  and  there  be  made 
to  spring  up!  He  had  also  heard  that  in  England  seve¬ 
ral  Jewish  students  had  become  Christians;  and  that 
Christian  tracts  addressed  to  Jews  had  found  their  way 
into  Russia.  By  this  time  about  a  dozen  Jews  had  gath¬ 
ered  round,  who  conducted  us  to  the  synagogue.  Among 
them  was  a  mild  young  man,  a  Spanish  Jew,  of  a  re¬ 
markably  fine  appearance,  and  very  kind  to  us ;  but  he 
could  not  speak  any  language  except  Spanish,  though 
he  understood  a  little  German.  Along  with  him  was  a 
friend,  a  German  Jew,  equally  interesting  and  very  af¬ 
fable.  We  were  standing  at  the  spot  where  the  new 
synagogue  was  building,  while  the  Jewish  workmen 
were  sitting  down  to  their  midday  meal  at  our  side. 
They  asked  Mr.  Caiman  if  he  wore  the  tsitsith.  In  re¬ 
ply,  he  told  them  that  “  they  wore  none,  for  the  real 
tsitsith  should  have  a  fringe  of  blue,  and  not  white 
strings.”  They  then  said,  they  believed  Messiah  would 
come  yet ;  and  that  many  in  Smyrna  and  other  parts  of 
Turkey  thought  he  would  come  next  year.  On  this  Mr. 


CONVERSATION  WITH  JEWS. 


379 


Caiman  told  them  that  the  main  thing  to  be  known  was 
the  object  of  his  coming,  which  was  to  take  away  sin ; 
whereas,  the  Jews  have  at  present  no  way  of  paidon. 
“  You  keep  Sabbath,”  said  he,  “  that  you  may  be  for¬ 
given — you  go  a  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem,  that  you  may 
be  forgiven — you  think  whoever  walks  four  yards  on  the 
Holy  Land  will  be  forgiven— you  eat  three  meals  on 
Sabbath,  pray  over  graves,  keep  the  day  of  atonement, 
all  in  order  to  find  forgiveness ;  and  yet  you  are  never  sa¬ 
tisfied  that  you  have  found  it.  Y our  conscience  is  never 
at  rest,  which  it  would  be,  if  that  were  the  true  way  of 
pardon.  Would  God  leave  his  people  without  some 
atonement  for  sin,  after  Jerusalem  was  destroyed  and 
sacrifices  done  away  1  No ;  he  left  them  Messiah.  You 
yourselves  offer  a  cock  and  a  hen  on  the  evening  befoie 
the  day  of  atonement,  which  proves  your  own  convic¬ 
tion  that  you  still  need  a  sacrifice.  Now,  Christians 
have  peace,  not  terror,  during  life,  and  can  die  without 
fear,  knowing  that  they  are  going  to  a  reconciled  Father 
—not  like  you,  who  are  so  uncertain  of  your  state,  that 
even  in  the  hour  of  death  you  engage  the  prayers  of 
rabbis  and  of  your  children  to  be  made  for  you  after  you 
are  dead.”  The  young  German  Jew  heard  with  great 
interest,  and  then  said,  “  That  the  Jews  now  had  more 
faith  than  Abraham ;  for  they  believed  God’s  word  with¬ 
out  having  seen  miracles.”  Mr.  Caiman  replied,  “  That 
to  believe  these  things  merely  would  not  save  them ;  the 
devils  also  believed,  and  were  devils  still.”  Another 
Jew  standing  by  said,  “We  have  no  sin;  for  we  keep 
Sabbath,  eat  no  pork,  drink  no  wine  which  a  Goi,  (a 
Gentile)  has  touched,  never  eat  without  washing  our 
hands;  and  we  wear  the  tsitsith.”  Mr.  C.  turned  to 
him,  “God  wishes  something  more  than  all  this — the 
heart.  Is  your  heart  right  with  God?  Do  you  dare  to 
say  that  you  love  him  at  all  times  I  Even  while  you  are 
putting  on  the  tephillin,  do  not  your  thoughts  wander  ? 
Therefore,  you  are  sinners,  and  where  are  your  sacri¬ 
fices'?  You  have  none  even  on  the  day  of  atonement.” 
The  Jew  answered,  that  repeating  or  reading  the  pas¬ 
sages  of  the  Torah,  that  describe  sacrifices,  was  as  good 
as^offering  the  sacrifices  themselves.  Mr.  C.  replied, 
“•God  has  never  said  so;  and  you  yourselves  are  not 
satisfied  that  it  is  so ;  for  if  you  were,  you  would  not  go 
away  to  seek  pardon  still  by  pilgrimages.”  He  then  told 
him  of  those  Jews  at  Smyrna  who  are  willing  to  be 
Christians,  only  retaining  their  Saturday  and  festivals. 


380 


JEWS — LEAVE  IBRAILA  FOR  BUCHAREST. 


This  Jew,  who  seemed  so  interested,  followed  us  along 
the  streets,  and  told  us  of  his  brethren.  He  said,  that 
“their  ignorance  here  was  lamentable,  and  their  pride 
excessive.  Every  one  wished  to  be  head.  They  needed 
to  be  taught  their  own  language,  for  none  could  speak 
Hebrew,  and  few  understand  it.  If  a  school  were  insti¬ 
tuted,  he  believed  it  would  be  well  attended.  At  present, 
parents  who  are  able,  send  their  children  to  be  educated 
at  Vienna.”  He  then  told  us  much  of  Rabbi  Bibas  from 
Corfu,  whom  he  called  “  a  grand  rabbi,”  who  lately  pass¬ 
ed  through  Ibraila  on  his  way  to  Bucharest,  travelling  to 
seek  the  reformation  of  his  brethren,  and  who  had  preach¬ 
ed  to  the  Jews  here  on  Isa.  xi.  1 — 5,  the  Spirit  resting  on 
Messiah.  He  said  that  “  the  seven  wisdoms,  or  sciences, 
are  meant,  such  as  music,  astronomy,  &c.  When  a  man 
is  well,  if  he  take  medicine  it  will  do  him  harm ;  but  if 
he  be  ill,  then  he  must  put  away  bread  and  take  the  med¬ 
icine.  Now,  the  law  is  bread ;  but  the  Jews  are  sick, 
they  are  ignorant  and  degraded.  You  must  therefore 
lay  aside  the  study  of  the  law  and  take  the  medicine, 
which  is  the  seven  wisdoms  or  sciences  spoken  of  here.” 
This  rabbi  had  left  a  deep  impression  upon  the  Jews 
here  and  elsewhere.  The  young  man  spoke  with  great 
admiration  of  him  and  of  his  sentiments,  and  especially  of 
this  one,  that  the  Jews  must  be  instructed  in  science  and 
in  arms,  that  they  may  wrest  the  land  of  Palestine  from 
the  Turks  under  the  conduct  of  Messiah,  as  the  Greeks 
wrested  their  country. 

The  Jews  think  themselves  better  treated  in  Wallachia 
than  in  Moldavia,  where  lately  an  additional  tax  was 
attempted  to  be  imposed  on  them ;  and  this  may  account 
for  the  great  freedom  with  which  they  spoke  to  us.  Yet 
even  here  they  suffer.  A  Jew  going  down  to  the  river 
will  often  be  ridiculed  by  the  porters  and  wagoners. 
We  were  told  the  number  of  Jews  at  Bucharest,  and  that 
at  Pitesti,  a  village  twenty  miles  from  it,  were  seventy 
Jewish  families. 

It  was  nine  in  the  evening  when  we  left  Ibraila  for  Bu¬ 
charest,  the  capital  of  Wallachia,  a  distance  of  120  miles. 
Mr.  Cunningham’s  kindness  was  unremitting  to  the  last, 
and  we  endeavoured  to  repay  it,  in  the  only  way  within 
the  reach  of  ministers  of  Christ,  whose  best  description 
is  to  be  “  poor  yet  making  many  rich.”  The  brashovan- 
ca  or  covered  carriage,  (so  called  from  Brashova,  a  town 
near  Cronstadt,  in  Austria,  where  it  was  invented,)  proved 
of  the  greatest  value  to  us.  As  we  had  hired  twelve 


MODE  OF  TRAVELLING, 


381 


horses  for  our  three  post-carts,  the  postillions  insisted 
upon  all  being  employed,  so  that  they  formed  quite  a 
cavalcade.  These  little  horses  were  attached  to  the  ve¬ 
hicles  by  ropes,  and  urged  on  at  full  speed  by  the  wild 
cry  of  the  postillions,  and  loud 
cracking  of  whips.  At  the  end 
of  the  first  stage,  we  were 
roused  up  from  sleep  by  a  voice, 
in  Wallachian,  “  Domne,  da 
Menzil”  “  Sir,  give  your  Men- 
zil;”  that  is, — your  agreement 
with  the  postmaster  to  carry 
you  through.  A  paper  accom¬ 
panying  it  is  called  the  Pode- 
rosne :  that  is — your  permission 
to  travel  from  the  Prince.  At 
every  stage  the  same  demand  is 
repeated ;  and  every  time  you 
must  give  a  small  coin  to  the 
man  at  the  post-house  who  ex¬ 
amines  these  documents.  The 
post-houses  are  no  more  than  solitary  cottages,  contain¬ 
ing  one  or  perhaps  two  unfurnished  rooms;  and  the 
horses  with  which  a  traveller  is  to  be  supplied,  are  gen¬ 
erally  in  the  adjacent  fields,  only  caught  on  the  arrival 
of  a  vehicle.  Many  a  time  we  had  to  wait  long  till  the 
straggling  ponies  were  brought  in  from  the  fields.  And 
it  was  any  thing  but  pleasant  to  sit  sleeping  in  the 
brashovanca  in  the  cold  night-air,  conscious  that  we 
were  making  no  progress,  yet  unable,  from  ignorance 
of  the  language,  to  urge  on  the  drivers.  Frequently,  too, 
the  postillions  would  stop  of  their  own  accord,  in  order 
to  run  to  a  house  to  get  their  pipe  lighted.  At  the  end 
of  the  second  stage,  our  horses  were  reduced  to  eight,  a 
more  manageable  number,  the  foremost  pair  of  the  team 
having  a  bell  attached  to  their  necks,  to  give  notice  to 
passers-by  of  the  approach  of  some  vehicle  over  the  soft 
ground. 

(Sept.  7.)  When  morning  dawned,  we  were  in  the 
midst  of  a  vast  uncultivated  plain,  in  many  parts  soft 
and  marshy,  with  a  few  rude  cottages  near  us.  The  dri¬ 
vers  were  waiting  at  the  post-house,  until  the  horses 
should  be  brought  in  from  the  grass.  We  resolved  to 
make  use  of  this  interval ;  and  having  brought  with  us 
all  the  provisions  we  needed  till  we  should  reach  Bucha¬ 
rest,  we  left  the  carriage  and  entered  one  of  the  cotta- 

“  34  * 


382  iBRAILA  TO  BUCHAREST— DIALECT  OF  PEASANTRY. 

ges.  It  resembled  somewhat  the  interior  of  an  Irish 
cabin,  consisting  of  a  single  apartment,  and  a  sleeping 
place  lower  than  the  ground.  The  peasant  and  his  wife, 
good  natured,  but  most  uncivilized-looking  people,  were 
seated  at  the  fire.  Knowing  that  we  were  in  the  re¬ 
gion  of  ancient  Dacia,  and  that  their  language  was  de¬ 
rived  in  part  from  that  of  the  Romans,  we  began  by 
trying  of  what  use  our  Latin  might  be.  The  man  said 
to  us  that  the  morning  was  “frig,  frig”  that  is  “  cold, 
cold.”  They  called  their  fire  (which  was  made  of  cows- 
dung)  “foco.”  We  pointed  to  their  cow,  and  called  it 
“vacca;”  he  smiled,  and  said  “vac”  and  called  the 
cattle  “boi”  We  asked  for  milk,  “lac;”  he  corrected 
us,  and  said  “lapte”  They  brought  us  a  refreshing 
draught  of  milk,  and  having  boiled  a  little  water  on 
their  fire  we  made  tea.  They  stood  by  in  respectful 
astonishment,  yet  apparently  much  amused,  and  ex¬ 
pressed  no  small  joy  on  our  giving  them  a  trifling  pre¬ 
sent  for  their  hospitality.  We  learned  a  little  "more 
of  their  language  during  breakfast.  A  horse  is  called 
cal — evidently  derived  from  c ab alias ;  a  cottage  is  cas ; 
water  is  apu.  A  dog  began  to  bark ;  we  said,  “  cams 
latrat ;”  the  man  corrected  us,  “cum  latra”  Bread 
is  puin ;  a  pitch  fork,  fare;  a  kettle  for  boiling  water 
caldare.  Many  other  examples  of  the  derivation  of 
their  language  from  the  Latin  we  met  with  afterwards. 
On  our  journey,  on  one  occasion  the  driver  asked  if  we 
had  fane,  “  a  rope,”  which  he  said  was  to  tie  “  ligar,” 
the  pole.  Coming  to  a  village,  we  asked  a  woman  for 
milk,  she  replied,  “  non  est ,”  “  there  is  none and  ano¬ 
ther  said,  “  aker,  ni  clulsh  est”  “  there  is  sour,  not 
sweet,”  bringing  out  a  large  bowl  of  sour  milk.  A  porter 
who  carried  some  articles  for  us  said,  “Nosti  Romanisti , 
domneV'  “Do  you  know  Romaic,  Sir!”  and  often  the 
people  used  “  spoune,”  that  is  “  tell  me,”  in  conversation 
with  one  another. 

Leaving  the  cottage,  we  entered  the  carriage,  and 
swept  along  over  what  appeared  to  be  an  endless  extent 
of  level  plains,  without  a  single  eminence  to  relieve  the 
flatness,  or  a  tree  on  which  the  eye  might  rest.  We 
saw  scarcely  any  marks  of  cultivation,  but  tracts  of  pas¬ 
ture  land,  with  here  and  there  an  immense  herd  of  dun 
oxen,  or  sometimes  buffaloes ;  horses  also,  and  sheep, 
and  large  flocks  of  geese.  Occasionally,  the  cottages 
displayed  a  little  neatness,  being  made  of  wicker-work, 
plastered  over  with  clay,  white-washed, — and  the  roof 


APPEARANCE  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 


383 


thatched  with  reeds.  One  object  that  meets  the  eye 
in  these  vast  plains  is  a  stone-cross,  at  various  intervals. 
This  may  be  intended  to  remind  travellers  of  Him  who 
died  for  us ;  but  certainly  the  peo¬ 
ple  showed  it  no  reverence.  Sel¬ 
dom  could  we  discover  even  the 
appearance  of  devotion  among 
them.  In  the  morning,  indeed, 
one  of  our  rough  postillions,  be¬ 
fore  mounting  his  horse,  crossed 
himself  three  times,  stooped 
down,  and  said  a  few  words  of 
prayer ;  but  we  rarely  saw  even 
this  attention  to  religious  duties. 

Mounds  of  earth  occasionally 
appeared  between  us  and  the 
horizon,  artificial  elevations  probably  used  in  ancient 
times  as  watch-towers  and  beacons.  In  some  places,  the 
lavatera,  the  foxglove,  the  hollyhock,  and  a  few  other 
flowers,  were  abundant  in  the  fields.  The  soil  appeared 
in  general  to  be  fertile  and  soft,  and  seldom  did  a  single 
stone  occur  on  the  road.  The  postillions  drove  well, 
each  having  four  in  hand ;  and  often  they  plucked  hair 
from  the  horses’  mane  to  improve  the  lash  of  their  whips. 
The  horses,  which  were  small,  lean,  and  active,  seemed 
to  prefer  the  gallop  as  much  as  the  riders.  When  any 
part  of  the  road  was  cut  up,  they  immediately  took  a 
new  course,— so  smooth  and  level  is  this  country. 

About  eight  o’clock  in  the  morning  we  passed  within 
sight  of  a  small  lake,  with  rocks  overhanging  it,— a  rare 
sight  in  these  plains.  At  the  fourth  post,  horses  were 
treading  out  corn,  and  in  the  gardens  was  a  sort  of  gourd 
that  is  hard  as  a  turnip,  and  much  used  for  food.  Wells 
now  began  to  be  common,  having  a  tall  upright  pole, 
over  the  top  of  which  lay  a  transverse  bar,  with  a  weight 
at  one  end  to  act  as  a  lever  in  drawing  up  the  bucket. 
We  had  seen  this  before  in  Egypt;  and  it  is  commonly 
used  in  Poland  and  Russia.  The  poor  drivers  never 
failed  to  stop  once  in  a  stage  to  get  their  pipe  lighted, 
which  they  continued  to  use  even  when  riding  at  full 
speed. 

About  midday,  we  came  to  a  village  (the  first  since 
leaving  Ibraila,)  called  Slobodzi,  having  a  Greek  church, 
and  a  convent.  No  monks  reside  in  the  convent,  but 
only  a  superior  and  his  two  deacons,  to  carry  on  the 


384 


OBELESHTI — BUCHAREST. 


church  service.  Here  we  crossed  a  stream  by  a  bridge 
of  boats ;  and  on  the  other  side,  the  country  rises  about 
thirty  feet,  after  ascending  which  we  came  upon  a  new 
extent  of  flat  country,  on  a  higher  level.  This  is  one  of 
the  steppes  which  are  the  characteristic  formation  of  this 
region.  As  before,  crosses  were  frequent  on  the  road¬ 
side,  and  herds  of  oxen  in  the  pastures.  Passing  a  field 
of  Indian  corn,  which  had  no  enclosure,  our  postillions 
stopped  the  vehicle,  and  deliberately  supplied  themselves 
with  an  armful.  Quails  and  bustards  occasionally  start¬ 
ed  up  from  the  corn-fields  as  we  rode  past. 

Towards  evening  we  drove  past  a  large  village  called 
Obeleshti,  situated  on  the  banks  of  a  small  lake.  The 
people  seemed  all  busily  employed,  and  vast  herds  of 
oxen  were  coming  round  the  sides  of  the  water.  The 
setting  sun  shed  a  pleasing  light  over  this  scene,  which 
was  peculiarly  refreshing  to  our  eye,  after  the  tameness 
and  monotonous  level  of  the  preceding  part  of  the  jour¬ 
ney.  The  two  villages  named  above  are  the  only  places 
of  the  least  importance  which  we  passed  in  our  long-  jour¬ 
ney  of  120  miles. 

It  was  three  o’clock  in  the  morning  (Sept.  8)  when  we 
reached  Bucharest.  We  should  have  arrived  at  nine  the 
preceding  evening,  but  lost  several  hours  at  the  different 
post-houses  from  our  ignorance  of  the  language,  and  in¬ 
experience  in  this  mode  of  travelling.  We  went  first  to 
the  Khan  Rosso,  to  which  we  had  been  recommended; 
but  after  knocking  and  waiting  half  an  hour,  our  answer 
was  “  Nui  log'hi ,”  “  no  places” — “  no  room.”  Our  drivers 
next  found  out  the  Casino  di  Martin ;  but  no  one  would 
reply  to  our  knocking.  While  we  were  lingering  cold 
and  weary  in  the  open  street  of  this  strange  city,  we 
heard  the  loud  hum  of  many  voices,  and  saw  a  large 
upper  room  lighted  up ; — it  was  a  Jewish  Synagogue,  for 
this  being  their  New  Year  season,  the  devout  portion 
of  them  spend  the  greater  part  of  the  time  in  continual 
prayers.  The  watchmen  on  the  street  and  our  postil¬ 
lions  imitated  their  loud  cries  in  ridicule  of  their  devo¬ 
tions;  so  true  are  the  words  of  Moses,  “  Thou  shaft  be¬ 
come  an  astonishment,  a  byword,  and  a  proverb,  amonff 
all  the  nations  whither  the  Lord  shall  lead  thee.”  *  Many 
Jews  were  now  hastening  through  the  dark  streets  to 


*  Deut.  xxviii.  37. 


KHAN — BRITISH  CONSUL, 


385 


the  synagogue,  and  one  seeing  our  dilemma  offered  to 
conduct  us  to  a  khan.  No  other  help  being  at  hand  we 
thankfully  accepted  his  services,  and  followed  him 
through  several  streets  till  he  brought  us  to  a  very  large 
caravansera,  called  Khan  Manuk,  overhanging  the  mud¬ 
dy  stream  Dembrowitza,  where  we  found  an  empty 
room,  in  which  we  spread  our  mats,  and  thankful  for  the 
mercies  of  the  past  day,  sought  repose. 

(Sabbath.)  A  strange  scene  presented  itself  to  us  when 
we  looked  out  in  the  morning.  The  khan  was  of  large 
dimensions,  covering  apparently  an  acre  of  ground,  with 
high  buildings  all  around.  The  ground  floor  was  occu¬ 
pied  with  horses  and  carriages  of  all  kinds.*  The  second 
floor  was  devoted  to  passing  travellers,  and  the  third  to 
those  who  were  to  stay  above  six  months.  The  second 
floor  had  a  wide  promenade  all  round,  and  on  it  were 
gathered  groups  from  many  different  countries,  espe¬ 
cially  Russians,  Hungarians,  and  Greeks.  A  mixture 
of  strange  barbarian  languages  filled  our  ears.  We 
sighed  in  vain  for  the  holy  quietness  of  a  Scottish  Sab¬ 
bath,  and  being  determined  if  possible  to  find  a  more 
peaceful  residence,  we  removed  in  the  forenoon  to  a 
much  smaller  and  cleaner  place,  called  Khan  Simeon, 
kept  by  a  Greek.  Here  we  enjoyed  the  rest  of  the  holy 
day,  and  worshipped  together  in  peace  and  comfort.  In 
the  evening  the  British  Consul-General,  R.  G.  Colqu- 
houn,  Esq.,  of  Fincastle,  found  out  our  dwelling,  and 
welcomed  us  to  Bucharest  with  all  the  kindness  of  a  fel¬ 
low-countryman. 

Next  morning  (Sept.  9)  we  waited  on  the  Consul,  from 
whom  during  our  stay  we  received  much  information 
as  to  the  state  of  the  country,  and  experienced  the  ut¬ 
most  attention  and  hospitality.  He  insisted  on  our  din¬ 
ing  at  the  Consulate  every  day,  which,  in  as  far  as  our 
inquiries  would  permit,  we  agreed  to  do.  Among  his 
servants  were  three  from  Scotland,  whose  faces  were 
lighted  up  with  joy  to  see  fellow-countrymen  in  this 
strange  land. 

Wallachia  is  a  fine  country,  and,  if  fully  cultivated, 
might  support  twelve  millions  of  inhabitants;  whereas 

*  This  is  the  style  of  all  Eastern  caravanseras,  and  may  illustrate 
“  the  stable  of  Bethlehem.”  There  was  no  room  for  Joseph  and  Mary 
in  the  apartments  set  apart  for  travellers,  so  they  had  to  betake  them¬ 
selves  to  the  lowest  floor;  and  there  the  shepherds  found  the  babe.— 
Luke  ii.  7—12. 


386 


WALLACHIA — POPULATION. 


at  present  there  are  not  much  above  two  miilons.  The 
immense  wastes  through  which  we  passed  might  easily 
be  put  under  cultivation,  and  would  yield  ample  returns ; 
but  there  are  no  hands  to  hold  the  plough.  Population 
is  not  encouraged ;  and  the  vices  of  the  inhabitants  keep 
it  down.  Nearly  three-fourths  of  the  land  in  this  pro¬ 
vince  and  in  Moldavia  are  in  the  possession  of  the  mon¬ 
asteries.  Many  estates  belong  to  monasteries  in  other 
countries,  such  as  the  convent  of  Mount  Athos  and  that 
of  Mount  Sinai ;  in  which  case  the  property  is  let  and 
farmed  by  the  natives  of  the  country  at  a  reasonable 
rent.  The  western  part  of  the  province,  called  Little 
Wallachia,  is  entirely  a  mountainous  region,  and  very 
different  from  that  part  through  which  we  travelled. 
Crayova,  which  used  to  be  the  rendezvous  of  the  Cru¬ 
sading  Knights,  on  their  way  to  the  Holy  Land,  is  situ¬ 
ated  there.  Whole  tracts  of  the  country  are  occasion¬ 
ally  devastated  by  the  ravages  of  the  locust.  Bucharest 
contains  120,000  inhabitants.  The  Greek  churches  alone 
amount  to  no  fewer  than  366.  There  are  also  two  Ro¬ 
man  Catholic  churches,  one  Lutheran,  and  one  Calvin- 
istic.  There  are  no  mosques,  for,  by  the  treaty  of  Adri- 
anople  in  1829,  no  Mahometan  is  allowed  to  possess  pro¬ 
perty  or  hold  a  domicile  in  either  province. 

In  addition  to  the  exportation  of  grain,  which  is  the 
chief  product  of  this  country,  there  is  a  considerable 
trade  in  cantharides ,  small  beetles  found  chiefly  in  the 
woods  of  Little  Wallachia,  and  gathered  from  trees  in 
bags.  The  bristles  of  the  hog  are  here  very  large  and 
strong,  and  these  are  exported  to  Britain  to  make  brushes. 
Immense  quantities  of  leeches  also  are  gathered  here  and 
sent  in  bags  to  Paris. 

All  the  Boyards  or  nobles  of  Wallachia  reside  in  the 
capital.  They  seldom  visit  their  estates,  and  some,  it  is 
said,  have  never  seen  them,  so  that  their  property  is  left 
entirely  in  the  hands  of  agents,  who  take  good  care  to 
enrich  themselves.  The  Prince,  Alexander  Demetrius 
Gike,  is  believed  to  be  much  under  the  influence  of  Rus¬ 
sia,  and  is  not  equal  in  talent  to  the  Prince  of  Moldavia. 
There  is  a  Chamber  here,  elected  by  men  of  certain  rank 
and  property,  who  assist  in  carrying  on  the  govern¬ 
ment.  But  the  employes  of  government  are  not  men 
of  the  best  character,  and  the  tribunals  of  justice 
are  lamentably  corrupt,  so  that  the  only  sure  way 
to  gain  a  cause  in  this  country  is  to  go  with  a  bag 


INHABITANTS— CRIME. 


387 


of  money  to  the  Judge.  There  are,  however,  some 
honest  Wallachians,  whose  hearts  are  set  upon  the  im¬ 
provement  of  their  country.  The  Greek  priests  here  are 
not  so  sunk  in  vice  as  in  other  countries.  All  the 
inferior  clergy  are  allowed  to  marry ;  though  those  of  a 
higher  grade  are  not,  and  among  them  immorality 
abounds.  The  peasants  of  the  low  country  are  a  ser¬ 
vile  race,  but  the  real  Wallachian  peasant  is  to  be  found 
on  the  Carpathian  Mountains.  He  is  a  fearless,  inde¬ 
pendent  man ;  who  buries  his  money  in  the  ground, 
and  walks  with  a  free  step.  It  is  common  to  find  trea¬ 
sures  of  money  in  the  fields,  which  have  been  hid  under 
ground  in  times  of  invasion.*  The  shoes  of  the  pea¬ 
santry  are  made  of  untanned  goat-skin,  fastened  to  the 
foot  by  a  leather  thong ;  this  is  a  remnant  of  the  Roman 
sandal. 

One  of  the  most  fruitful  sources  of  crime  in  this 
country,  and  one  of  the  most  revolting  symptoms  of 
its  depravity,  is  the  frequency  of  divorce.  This  is  easily 
obtained,  is  accounted  no  disgrace,  and  the  separated 
parties  are  soon  married  again  to  others.f  We  were 
often  during  our  sojourn  in  this  country  reminded  of 
the  awful  description  given  by  Jeremiah;  “From  the 
least  of  them  even  unto  the  greatest  of  them,  every  one 
is  given  to  covetousness ;  and  from  the  prophet  even 
unto  the  priest,  every  one  dealeth  falsely.  Were  they 
ashamed  when  they  had  committed  abomination  I  nay, 
they  were  not  at  all  ashamed,  neither  could  they 
blush.”]; 

From  the  top  of  the  Consul’s  house  we  obtained  a  fine 
view  of  the  city.  It  is  built  upon  a  marshy  plain,  and  a 
few  years  ago  was  all  paved  with  wooden  planks  thrown 
over  canals  of  water,  which  continually  sent  up  the  ele- 

*  See  Matt.  xiii.  44. 

t  An  incident  occurred  during  our  stay  at  Bucharest,  which  for¬ 
cibly  illustrates  this  shameful  state  of  things.  The  Prince  gave  a 
ball  on  the  night  of  his  birth-day.  A  certain  Boyard  and  his  lady 
were  passed  over  and  not  invited.  The  lady,  unable  to  contain 
her  chagrin,  said  to  her  husband,  “  Now,  you  see  that  by  marrying 
you  I  have  been  left  uninvited  to  the  Prince’s  ball.  Unless  you  pro¬ 
cure  me  an  invitation,  I  will  immediately  sue  for  a  divorce.’’  The 
poor  Boyard  ran  immediately  to  the  chamberlain,  and  entreated 
him  to  send  an  invitation  to  his  wife; — not  that  he  cared  much 
for  her,  but  because  he  would  be  obliged  to  pay  back  her  dowry. 
The  request  was  granted,  and  the  divorce  prevented  for  that 
time. 

t  Jer.  vi.  13 — 15 


388 


BUCHAREST— JEWS — SYNAGOGUES. 


merits  of  fever  and  ague.  The  Russians,  however,  de¬ 
stroyed  these  and  drained  the  city.  The  churches  here 
are  not  beautiful  within,  but  appear  showy  from  without 
lhe  number  of  spires  is  very  great,  and  many  of  them 
are  covered  with  polished  tin,  which  dazzles  the  eye  in 
the  sunshine.  This  is  a  recent  mode  of  adorning;  anciently 
the  spires  were  all  of  brick,  but  it  was  found  safer  to  dis¬ 
pose  with  these  on  account  of  the  frequent  earthquakes 
which  shake  the  country.  The  buildings  are  beautifully 
interspersed  with  luxuriant  gardens,  containing  vines 
apricots,  and  splendid  walnuts.  Many  of  the  houses 
being  built  of  wood,  fires  are  frequent  and  dangerous. 
VVe  saw  a  tower  on  which  a  man  is  stationed,  watching 
night  and  day  to  give  alarm  in  case  of  fire  breaking  out 

Not  unlike  the  duty  of  this  man  is  that  of  the  faithfui 
pastor ! 

In  legal d  to  the  Jews,  we  were  told  that  they  are 
better  tieated  in  this  province  than  in  Moldavia,  for  there 
an  attempt  was  made  to  overtax  them ;  but  not  so  here. 
Rveiy  Jew  must  bring  a  certificate  that  he  can  earn  a 
livelihood  by  some  trade  before  he  is  allowed  to  settle 
As  to  the  number  residing  here,  we  found  it  impossible 
to  ascertain  the  truth  with  accuracy.  The  highest  esti¬ 
mate  was  made  by  themselves  at  7000,  the  lowest  by  the 
Consul  at  2800.  Some  Jews  stated  the  number  at  5000* 
and  the  aspect  of  their  synagogues  led  us  to  think  this 
to  be  nearest  the  truth.  There  are  seven  synagogues 
belonging  to  the  Polish  Jews,  who  are  mostly  all  me¬ 
chanics — tailors,  shoemakers,  carpenters,  workers  in 
gold  ti  inkets,  &c.  Those  who  belong  to  the  same  trade 
keep  by  the  same  synagogue.  There  is  one  handsome 
Spanish  synagogue,  which  is  frequented  by  the  wealthy 
and  influential  men.  The  majority  of  the  Jews  here  are 
corrupt  to  such  a  degree,  that  about  three  years  before 
our  visit,  when  one  of  their  rabbis  attempted  to  reform 
them  by  pleaching  against  their  vices,  they  never  rested 
till  they  got  him  expelled,  even  stirring  up  his  own  wife 
and  children  against  him.  On  our  asking,  if  all  the  Jews 
here  believed  the  Scriptures  (*qn,  tancicli)  to  be  the  word 
of  God,  the  reply  was,  “  Andere  glauben ,  andere  nicht  ” 

“  Some  believe,  some  do  not.” 

The  first  synagogue  which  we  visited  was  one  belong¬ 
ing  to  the  Polish  Jews.  This  being  the  festival  of 
nf n  (Rosh  Hashanna),  that  is,  New  Year’s  Day,  the 
place  was  crowded  to  excess,  no  Jew  who  can  possibly  at- 


SYNAGOGUE  OF  FOLI3H  JEWS. 


389 


tend  venturing  to  absent  himself  on  such  a  high  day. 
All  wore  the  black  Polish  gown  and  fur  cap,  and  all  had 


on  the  Tallith ,  the  front  of  which  was  ornamented  with 
a  band  of  silver  work.  The  old  rabbi  wore  a  white 
ephod  or  shirt,  having  the  collar  richly  embroidered  with 
silver  and  gold.  This  is  called  izjum  (halukah  rab- 
bonim),  “  The  shirt  of  the  rabbis,”  a  dress  which  they 
wear  in  imitation  of  the  writers  of  the  Talmud,  who  are 
said  to  have  worn  the  same,  and  in  which  all  rabbis  are 
buried.  This  rabbi  commenced,  and  soon  all  joined  in  re¬ 
peating  the  47th  Psalm  seven  times  over.  The  rabbis  think 
that  the  verse,  “  God  is  gone  up  with  a  shout,  the  Lord 
with  the  sound  of  a  trumpet,”  gives  some  countenance 
to  the  peculiar  ceremony  of  the  day,  namely,  the  blowing 
of  a  trumpet .  They  also  believe  that  every  New  Year’s 
Day  is  a  kind  of  day  of  judgment.  “  Every  year,  on  the 
festival  of  Rosh  Hashanna,  the  sins  of  every  one  that 
cometh  into  the  world  are  weighed  against  his  merits. 
Every  one  who  is  found  righteous  is  sealed  to  life.  Every 
one  who  is  found  wicked  is  sealed  to  death.”  Accord¬ 
ingly,  they  imagine  that  Satan  at  this  season  comes  be¬ 
fore  God  specially  to  accuse  every  soul.  In  order,  there- 


390 


BUCHAREST — JEWISH  SYNAGOGUE. 


fore,  “  to  confuse  Satan,”  and  prevent  him  from  bringing 
forward  his  accusations,  and  also  “  to  change  God's  at¬ 
tribute  of  judgment  which  was  against  them  into  mercy  ,” 
their  wise  men  of  blessed  memory  have  ordained  that 
the  tiumpet  should  be  blown  on  the  first  day  of  the 
month  Elul  every  year. 

,  The,  rabbi  made  use  of  a  small  ram’s  horn,  which 
he  had  some  difficulty  in  getting  to  sound.  One  rabbi 
chanted  the  word  of  command,  rynpn  (takeeah),  at  which 
the  other  blew  through  the  horn.  Nine  times  this  was 
repeated,  and  the  last  was  a  long  blast ;  then  all  present 
shouted  and  imitated  the  sound  with  their  hand  and 
mouth.  They  resembled  exactly  a  company  of  children 
imitating  a  military  band,  and  but  for  the  heart-rending 
tact  that  these  very  follies  form  part  of  the  strong  delm 
sion  to  which  God  has  given  up  his  ancient  people,  the 
whole  scene  would  have  been  irresistibly  ludicrous.  The 
prayers  that  followed  were  offered  with  great  vehemence, 
and  a  rabbi  and  three  young  men  sang  well  the  Psalm 
which  does  not  now  apply  to  Israel,  “  Blessed  is  the  peo¬ 
ple  that  know  the  joyful  sound.” 

In  another  Polish  synagogue  close  by,  we  saw  the 
same  ceremony.  We  also  visited  the  Spanish  syna¬ 
gogue,  where  the  Jews  present  were  handsomely  dressed, 
and  the  Jewesses  whom  we  saw  at  the  gate,  were  enve¬ 
loped  in  silk  mantles  edged  with  fur.  They  were  engaged 
m  the  same  ceremony,  only  they  did  not  seem  to  be  so 
zealous,  and  went  through  it  with  greater  dignity.  Alas 
Israel,  “children  are  thy  princes,  and  babes  rule  over 
j  Lord  hath  taken  away  from  Judah  the 

stay  and  the  staff,  the  judge  and  the  prophet,  the  pru¬ 
dent  and  the  ancient.”  ^ 


In  the  afternoon  we  went  to  the  synagogue  again  in 
expectation  of  seeing  the  Jews  march  down  to  the  river- 
side,  and  “  cast  all  their  sins  into  the  depths  of  the  sea,”f 
which  they  do  by  shaking  their  garments  over  the  water, 
as  if  casting  their  sins  out  of  their  bosom.  But  we  were 
too  early,  and  were  told  that  they  wait  till  it  is  dusk, 
when  the  people  of  the  town  will  not  observe  them 
Mr.  Caiman  pointed  us  to  a  proof  of  the  degraded 
character  of  the  Jews  here,  as  we  were  passing  a  com¬ 
mon  eating-house. — On  the  walls  of  it  many  German 
sentences  of  a  jovial  character  were  written  in  Hebrew 
letters.  Thus, 


*  Isa.  iii.  4. 


t  Mic.vii.  19. 


JEWISH  MISSIONARY. 


391 


nn»n  “  To-day  I  have  money, 

2j?  To-morrow  none — 

nxpn  run’ll  In  the  (Jewish)  year  5098. 

The  Jews  here,  in  gaining  their  livelihood,  are  employed 
by  persons  of  all  religious  persuasions,  so  that  they  do 
not  depend  on  their  brethren  for  supply  of  work.  Per¬ 
haps  nine  out  of  every  ten  carpenters  are  Jews ;  and  no 
questions  are  asked  in  employing  them,  except  regard¬ 
ing  their  capacity  as  workmen.  This  is  a  most  impor¬ 
tant  fact,  which  would  remove  entirely  the  difficulty  so 
often  felt  by  Jewish  missionaries  in  the  support  of  inquir¬ 
ers  and  converts. 

The  Consul  was  of  opinion  that  a  missionary  in  Bucha¬ 
rest  would  require  250/.  a-year.  He  must  have  a  house 
with  four  rooms,  which  would  cost  25/.  or  30/.  of  rent. 
He  must  maintain  several  servants,  for  each  will  do  only 
his  own  peculiar  work ;  and  the  state  of  the  streets  is 
such  in  winter,  that  he  must  keep  a  carriage  and  two 
horses,  as  every  respectable  person  does.  Provisions 
are  cheap ;  a  lamb  may  be  got  for  two  shillings,  a  sheep 
for  four  shillings  and  sixpence,  and  an  oke  of  meat  (that 
is  2£  lbs.)  for  one  piastre,  that  is  about  twopence.  But 
firewood  is  very  dear.  A  large  family  often  pay  50/. 
a-year  for  this  article  alone.  The  expense  of  travelling 
from  England  to  Bucharest,  the  Consul  estimated  at  30/. 
As  to  the  prospects  of  success,  he  thought  that  any  di¬ 
rect  attempt  to  convert  the  Greeks  would  be  immedi¬ 
ately  fatal  to  any  mission.  A  Jewish  missionary  must 
confine  his  labours  to  the  Jews,  and  not  interfere  with 
the  natives.  The  light  will  spread  indirectly.  The  only 
danger  to  a  mission  is,  that  the  priesthood,  fearing  its 
indirect  influence,  might  bring  in  the  arm  of  Russia  to 
put  it  down :  and  Russia  could  easily  do  this  in  their 
own  secret  way  if  they  had  the  will. 

(Sept.  1 0.)  In  the  forenoon,  we  set  out  to  call  on  Sam¬ 
uel  Hillel,  a  Jewish  banker,  who  was  to  introduce  us  to 
Rabbi  Bibas  of  Corfu.  By  mistake  we  were  led  to  the 
house  of  a  wealthy  Spanish  Jew,  and  ushered  into  a  fine 
suite  of  apartments.  Several  J e wish  ladies  came  in  fully 
dressed  for  the  festival  of  the  season.  They  received  us 
very  politely,  and  after  discovering  our  mistake,  directed 
us  to  the  banker’s  house.  He  was  not  at  home,  but  we 
found  his  son  (who  said  that  he  had  seen  us  at  the  syna¬ 
gogue),  and  his  three  daughters,  richly  attired,  wearing 
diamonds  on  their  head— for  the  daughters  of  Judah, 


BUCHAREST — INTERVIEW  WITH  RABBI  BIBAS. 


even  in  their  captivity,  have  the  same  love  for  gay  appa¬ 
rel  that  they  had  in  the  days  of  Isaiah.*  In  conversa¬ 
tion  with  the  son,  we  soon  discovered  that  he  was  one 
of  those  Jews  who  care  little  about  Palestine,  and  do  not 
expect  a  Messiah,  believing  that  education  and  civiliza¬ 
tion  alone  can  exalt  the  Jews ;  to  which  he  added,— “  a 
knowledge  of  arms,  that  they  may  defend  their  land 
when  they  get  possession  of  it.”  We  afterwards  saw 
his  father,  who  conducted  us  to  the  house  where  the 
rabbi  of  Corfu  was  lodging.  Rabbi  Bibas  received  us 
politely.  He  spoke  English  with  great  fluency,  told  us 
he  was  a  native  of  Gibraltar,  and  was  proud  of  being  a 
British  subject.  He  has  a  congregation  of  4000  under 
his  care  in  Corfu.  On  our  entrance,  he  excused  himself 
for  not  rising,  a  slight  indisposition  and  the  fatigue  of 
travelling  obliging  him  to  lie  on  the  sofa.  We  said, 
“  The  Eastern  manner  became  one  of  his  nation.”  He 
replied,  “No!  no!  the  Jews  are  not  Easterns.”  We 
said,  “  Abraham  came  from  the  distant  East.”  “  True ; 
but  you  are  not  to  reckon  a  nation  by  their  first  parent.” 
Immediately  he  began  to  speak  of  the  situation  of  the 
Promised  Land,  asking  us  to  say,  Why  God  chose  Israel 
for  his  peculiar  people,  and  that  portion  of  the  earth  as 
their  land  I  Much  conversation  arose  on  these  points, 
and  as  often  as  we  tried  to  break  off  and  introduce 
something  more  directly  bearing  on  our  object,  he  stop¬ 
ped  us  by  affecting  great  logical  accuracy,  and  holding 
us  to  the  point,  if  we  had  any  pretensions  to  the  charac¬ 
ter  of  logical  reasoners.  He  denied  that  God  ever  meant 
the  Jews  to  be  a  people  separate  from  other  nations,  as¬ 
serting  that  He  intended  them  to  enlighten  all  the  earth, 
a  duty  which  they  must  still  perform  whenever  it  shall 
be  in  their  power.  If  they  had  means  like  the  English 
they  ought  to  send  out  missionaries.  When  we  gave 
this  reason  why  God  chose  Israel  to  be  his  peculiar 
people,  “  that  the  Lord  wished  to  show  that  he  was  a 
sovereign  God,”  he  disputed  this,  because  His  sovereign¬ 
ty  was  already  known  to  the  heathen.  He  thought  we 
must  be  content  to  reckon  it  among  the  secret  "things 
that  belong  to  God.  He  then  suddenly  started  another 
speculative  question,  “  Where  Eden  was,  and  how  four 
such  streams  as  Moses  described  could  have  existed, 
since  they  are  now  nowhere  to  be  found.”  On  this  point 
he  at  length  rested  satisfied  with  the  remark,  that  it 
must  be  true,  because  declared  in  the  Word  of  God.  Aft 


RABBI  BIBAS — CHURCH  OF  THE  METROPOL. 


393 


ter  this  he  signified  to  us  that  it  was  the  hour  of  prayer, 
and  we  must  excuse  him  from  further  conversation  at 
present.  He  showed  great  craftiness  and  skill  in  keep¬ 
ing  the  conversation  from  turning  upon  matters  of  ex¬ 
perimental  religion ;  for  that  was  evidently  his  aim.  On 
our  rising  to  take  leave,  and  mentioning  that  love  to 
Israel  had  brought  us  to  visit  him,  he  declared  that  he 
loved  Christians  exceedingly,  and  that  no  Christian  loved 
the  Jews  more  than  he  did  the  Christians.  He  said  that 
he  was  travelling  for  the  sake  of  his  degraded  brethren, 
to  see  what  might  be  done  for  them ;  and  was  anxious 
to  meet  with  Sir  Moses  Montefiore  on  his  return  from 
the  Holy  Land.  He  disliked  our  reference  to  Scripture. 
Thus,  on  his  remarking  that  the  Jews  must  have  been  a 
very  holy  people  since  Go*d  so  preserved  them,  we  re¬ 
plied  in  the  words  of  Ezekiel,  “  Not  for  your  sakes  do  I 
this,  saith  the  Lord  God,  be  it  known  unto  you.”  *  But 
he  hastily  changed  to  another  topic. 

(Sept.  11.)  In  the  morning  we  went  to  the  church  of 
the  Metropol,  to  witness  the  Fete  of  the  Prince  of  Wal- 
lachia,  on  occasion  of  his  birthday.  It  is  a  splendid  build¬ 
ing,  and  the  walls  very  showy  within,  being  covered  with 
gilding,  and  paintings  of  apostles  and  saints  without 
number,  with  a  rich  silver  chandelier  suspended  from  the 
roof.  The  splendid  pulpit,  which  had  the  appearance  of 
being  seldom  or  never  occupied,  was  adorned  with  gor¬ 
geous  gilding, — a  poor  substitute  for  “  the  words  of  eter¬ 
nal  life.”  The  Prince  himself  was  not  present,  being 
unwell:  but  all  the  principal  Boyards  of  Wallachia  were 
present,  and  also  Milosh,  the  exiled  Prince  of  Servia,  a 
man  of  dull,  heavy-looking  aspect,  dressed  in  a  rich  pur¬ 
ple  uniform,  with  a  costly  diamond  girdle.  His  son  stood 
by  his  side.  Consuls  of  different  nations  stood  around, 
wearing  their  respective  uniforms;  and  an  immense 
crowd  of  well-dressed  people,  all  standing,  filled  the 
church.  The  priests,  arrayed  in  beautiful  robes,  sur¬ 
rounded  the  table.  The  Bishop  wore  a  splendid  mitre, 
with  a  diamond  cross  on  the  top,  and  his  garments  were 
stiff  with  gold  embroidery.  He  is  said  to  be  an  amiable 
man  ;  and  we  could  not  but  honour  him  for  this,  that  he 
has  permitted  the  free  circulation  of  the  Holy  Scriptures 
in  Wallachia.  The  service  consisted  chiefly  of  prayers 
for  the  Prince;  followed  by  the  responsive  chanting 


*  Ezek-  xxxvi.  32. 

35* 


394  SUPERSTITIOUS  WORSHIP  OF  THE  GREEK  CHURCH. 

of  men  and  boys,  not  very  melodious.  At  the  end,  the 
Prince  and  Nobles  came  forward  to  the  Bishop,  kissed  a 
cross  in  his  left  hand,  the  Bible  on  the  table,  and  the 
Bishop’s  hand,  receiving  from  him  a  small  piece  of  bread. 
This  seemed  to  be  the  sacramental  bread,— a  miserable 
profanation  of  the  holy  ordinance  of  the  Supper. 

When  the  pageant  was  done,  and  most  had  withdrawn, 
we  remained  behind  to  see  the  rest  go  through  their  de¬ 
votions.  In  different  parts  of  the  church  the  worship¬ 
pers  were  choosing  out  the  picture  of  their  favourite 
saint,  and  after  many  crossings  and  prostrations  on  the 
ground,  they  kissed  the  feet  and  hands  of  the  picture. 
In  one  corner  an  open  coffin  was  exhibited,  containing 
we  were  told,  the  remains  of  St.  Demetrius,  the  patnm 
saint  of  the  Prince.  A  frank  Wallachian  who  was  with 
us  said,  somewhat  archly,  “  This  was  not  the  old  St. 
Demetrius,  but  a  new  one.”  The  body  was  buried  in 
the  channel  of  a  river,  and  the  spot  was  disclosed  to  a 
pious  young  woman,  before  whom  the  waters  of  the 
river  were  miraculously  divided.  The  coffin  was  highly 
ornamented  with  silver,  and  the  dead  body  wrapped 
in  cloth  of  silver  and  gold.  A  shrivelled  hand  was  all 
that  was  left  exposed ;  and  this  was  the  great  object  of 
attraction.  The  worshippers  approached  in  great  num¬ 
bers,  men  and  women,  rich  and  poor,  officers  and  sol¬ 
diers^  First  they  kneeled  to  the  ground  three  times, 
crossing  themselves  and  kissing  the  pavement.  Then 
they  drew  near,  and  reverently  kissed  the  withered  hand 
and  a  cross  that  lay  beside  it,  dropping  a  piece  of  money 
into  a  little  plate  which  lay  at  the  feet.  The  priest 
touched  their  forehead  with  a  little  cross  in  his  hand,  and 
muttered  some  parting  blessing.  With  three  prostra¬ 
tions  more  the  worshipper  retired.  One  poor  boy,  more 
intense  in  his  devotions  than  the  rest,  made  about  twenty 
prostrations,  being  often  disturbed  by  the  crowd;  and 
we  could  not  see  that  after  all  he  ever  got  a  kiss  of  the 
skinny  fingers.  A  rustic,  with  long  uncombed  hair,  and 
his  wife,  brought  their  little  baby  in  their  arms  to  be 
blessed  beside  the  holy  coffin.  The  priest  laid  the  crucifix 
upon  its  brow. 

It  was  altogether  a  scene  of  the  grossest  idolatry,  and 
it  was  melancholy  to  see  so  many  respectable,  intelligent- 
looking  people  engaged  in  it.  What  a  stumbling-block 
are  such  Christians  in  the  way  of  the  conversion  of  the 
Jews  !  And  yet  there  are  about  200  Jews  in  Bucharest 


SECOND  INTERVIEW  WITH  RABBI  BIBAS.  895 

who  have  been  baptized  into  the  Greek  Church.  But  of 
these  we  were  told  that  only  three  had  made  the  change 
from  any  real  concern  about  their  soul. 

We  visited  again  our  friend  Rabbi  Bibas,  and  resolved 
this  time  to  take  the  start  of  him  in  the  topics  of  con¬ 
versation.  Mr.  Caiman  at  once  began  by  shewing  the 
wickedness  and  folly  of  several  things  taught  in  the 
Talmud.  The  rabbi’s  first  answer  was,  that  the  Talmud 
was  written  by  those  who  composed  the  Sanhedrim,  and 
that  God  commanded  us  to  bow  to  their  decision  on  pain 
of  death*  Then  he  explained  away  its  apparently  im¬ 
moral  precepts ;  but,  in  defending  its  errors  in  history 
and  geography,  plunged  into  gross  absurdities,  by  en¬ 
deavouring  to  prove  from  the  Bible  that  the  Holy  Land 
was  of  immense  extent,  and  that  Jerusalem  once  con¬ 
tained  many  millions  of  people.  In  proof  of  the  latter 
point  he  referred  to  a  passage,  where  so  many  thousands 
are  said  to  have  been  “ at  Jerusalem;”  but  he  insisted 
that  3  must  be  rendered  “in  Jerusalem.”  f  He  wished  to 
shew  us  that  Messiah  must  be  a  mere  man ;  and  directed 
us  to  the  description  of  Ezekiel’s  temple,  where  “  the 
Prince  and  his  sons”  are  mentioned.!  We  explained 
that  Messiah  was  not  there  spoken  of,  but  the  Prince 
over  Israel  under  him.  His  only  remark  to  this  was, 
“  Oh,  then,  you  give  us  two  rulers  1”  He  admitted  the 
state  of  his  people  at  present  to  be  most  wretched.  In 
Poland  especially,  he  said,  they  were  grossly  supersti¬ 
tious,  for  they  understood  every  thing  in  the  Talmud 
literally.  Indeed,  he  had  not  gone  to  speak  with  the 
Polish  rabbi,  believing  that  it  would  be  useless  on  ac¬ 
count  of  his  ignorance.  The  first  remedy  was  to  remove 
their  ignorance.  He  would  have  the  Jews  gathered  and 
educated  in  schools,  where  they  should  read  and  learn 
the  Bible  till  ten  years  of  age ;  the  Mishna  from  ten  to 
fifteen,  and  the  Talmud  from  fifteen  to  twenty.  He 
thought  that  the  collections  for  the  Holy  Land  ought  to 
be  given  up,  and  that  the  Jews  there  ought  to  be  obliged 
to  work  even  were  it  by  the  bayonet.  Sir  Moses  Monte- 
fiore’s  plan  of  purchasing  land  for  them  in  Palestine  he 
considered  useless,  as  long  as  there  is  no  security  for 
property  there.  The  people  must  first  be  educated  and 

*  Deut.  xvii.  11,  12. 

t  The  precise  passage  has  escaped  our  memory ;  but  it  was  some 
such  passage  as  Judg.  i.  8,  all  Judah  fighting  in  Jerusalem. 

|  Ezek.  xlvi.  16. 


396 


BUCHAREST— YOUNG  JEW  CONVERT. 


taught  the  sciences.  He  believed  from  Zechariah  xiv 
14,  which  he  translated  “  Judali  also  shall  fight  against 
Jerusalem ,”  that  many  of  the  Jews  are  yet  to  fall  into 
infidelity,  and  fight  against  their  brethren.  We  now  at¬ 
tempted  to  speak  still  more  closely  to  his  conscience,  but 
he  refused  to  argue  on  the  Messiahship  of  Jesus  except 
m  writing.  We  shewed  him  the  end  for  which  we  had 
left  our  country  and  were  seeking  after  Israel.  He 
asked,  “For  what  good!”  We  answered,  “To  send 
teachers  to  Israel.”  “  The  moment  they  begin  to  teach 
Christianity,  all  Jews  will  turn  away  from  them.”  “No 
(we  said),  some  will  receive  the  truth,”  and  we  pointed 
to  Mr.  Caiman.  The  rabbi  started  and  looked  quite 
siupiised,  for  he  had  not  suspected  that  our  friend  was 
an  Israelite;  then  added,  “Ah!  well,  there  are  one  or 
two.”  We  then  pressed  upon  him  to  compare  the 
blind  and  wretched  state  of  the  dry  bones  of  Israel  des- 
cnbed  in  the  prophets,  with  what  he  knew  to  be  the  real 
condition  of  his  people,  and  solemnly  urged  him  to  in- 
qune  if  the  blood  of  Jesus,  which  they  were  rejecting' 
might  not  be  the  very  “  fountain  for  sin,”  by  which  Israel 
was  to  be  saved.  He  seemed  surprised  by  our  earnest- 

friends Vidently  ^  °Ur  sincerity’  and  we  parted  good 


Mr.  Caiman  called  on  an  interesting  and  very  res¬ 
pectable  young  Jew,  lately  baptized  into  the  Greek 
Church,  named  Alexander  Rosiski,  a  teacher  of  music. 
Mi.  C.  asked  him  how  a  conscientious  Jew  could  ever 
become  an  idolater,  as  the  Greeks  were.  He  said  that 
he  never  worshipped  their  pictures,  though  he  attended 
service  in  their  church.  He  had  felt  a  want  in  his  soul, 
and,  from  what  he  heard  of  Jesus,  thought  that  in  Him 
he  would  find  his  want  supplied.  This  "first  led  him  to 
the  Greek  Church  ;  but  he  confessed  that  his  ignorance 
was  still  so  great,  that  he  could  not  meet  his  brethren  in 
argument,  and  therefore  avoided  them,  When  Mr.  Cal- 
man  explained  Isaiah  liii,  expounding  to  him  the  work 
of  Christ  and  “the  way  of  God  more  perfectly,”  the 
young  man  was  overjoyed  and  delighted  ;  for  the  in¬ 
struction  thus  imparted  was  more  than  all  he  had  got 
among  the  Greeks.  He  had  a  Hebrew  New  Testament 
but  understood  little  of  it,  and  owned  that  often  he  had 
asked  himself,  Why  lie  had  become  a  Christian?  But 
r°iWjrSaW  f-ndh  in  a  way  that  convinced  and  estab¬ 
lished  him.  He  longed  for  an  instructor,  and  rejoiced  at 


BUCHAREST  TO  FOXSHANY. 


397 


the  idea  of  a  missionary  coming  to  settle  there,  and  teach 
his  brethren.  What  an  interesting  scene  does  this  open 
up,  and  how  many  “  hidden  ones”  God  may  have  among 
the  scattered  thousands  of  Israel,  who,  like  “  prisoners 
of  hope,”  are  waiting  for  some  one  to  direct  them  to  the 
stronghold ! 

(Sept.  13.)  Having  parted  with  our  kind  friends  at  the 
Consulate  on  the  day  before,  we  bade  farewell  to  Bucha¬ 
rest  at  nine  o’clock,  A.  M.,  and  set  out  for  Foxshany,  a 
distance  of  eleven  posts.  The  postillion  drove  like  the 
wind,  raising  up  clouds  of  dust  which  annoyed  us  sadly. 
Looking  back,  we  observed  how  the  city  lies  in  a  singu¬ 
lar  plain,  marshy  all  round.  A  well,  surmounted  by  a 
tall  pole  and  cross  beam,  is  the  most  frequent  object  that 
meets  the  eye.  Fine  brushwood  and  low  trees  line  the 
road  on  both  sides  for  many  miles.  When  we  had  nearly 
completed  our  first  stage,  the  axle-tree  of  the  brashovanca 
broke,  and  left  us  helpless  in  a  wilderness.  After  long 
delay,  a  wood-cutter,  who  happened,  to  be  by  the  road¬ 
side,  made  two  young  trees  fall  for  us,  and  we  contrived 
by  their  means  to  support  the  axle,  till  we  drove  gently 
to  the  next  post,  where  the  broken  part  was  taken  to  a 

Zingan,  who  repaired  it. 
After  a  detention  of  three 
hours,  we  set  off  again, 
swiftly  as  ever,  through 
woods  and  shrubs.  There 
was  something  quite  ex¬ 
citing  in  this  mode  of  tra¬ 
velling.  The  two  postil¬ 
lions,  with  their  Wallachi- 
an  vest,  loose  shirt  sleeve, 
large  boots,  small  fur-cap, 
and  unshorn  locks  flow¬ 
ing  behind,  cracking  their 
strong  whips,  and  mak¬ 
ing  the  woods  reverberate 
their  cries,  were  most  pic¬ 
turesque  objects.  The  air 
also  was  delicious,  and  the  flat  plains  seemed  to  fly  past. 
At  mounting,  each  postillion  springs  into  the  saddle  cry¬ 
ing  Hee,  when  all  the  horses  start  off  simultaneously. 
Their  loud,  wolf-like  cry  is  very  singular.  One  begins 
very  low,  gently  swelling,  his  voice,  till  it  becomes  a 
scream,  then  it  d  ies  away.  Before  he  is  done  the  other 


398  VILLAGE  OF  BUSEO — ARRIVAL  AT  FOXSHANY. 


commences,  and  so  on.  They  crack  the  whip  at  every 
turn  of  the  hand  in  setting  off  or  coming  near  a  post  or 
town. 

Near  the  second  post,  first  one  flight  of  quails  passed 
us,  and  soon  after  another.  We  descended  a  steppe  into 
a  wide  platform,  and  twice  crossed  a  calm  flowing  stream 
on  bridges  made  of  wood.  Towards  evening  we  began 
to  see  hills  in  the  distance,  and  came  on  a  sweet  village 
called  Buseo,  with  its  church,  from  which  the  evening 


bells  were  sounding  deep  and  calm.  It  reminded  us  of 
Longforgan  in  the  Carse  of  Gowrie,  and  called  our  flocks 
vividly  to  remembrance.  During  the  night  we  forded  a 
broad  but  shallow  stream,  and,  as  morning  broke,  reach¬ 
ed  a  village  called  Rimnik.  For  a  short  space  the  coun¬ 
try  was  beautiful,  with  wooded  hills  on  the  south-west. 
But  soon  the  road  again  became  level  as  formerly.  As 
we  proceeded,  a  wheel  of  our  vehicle  rolled  off,  but  by 
means  of  a  rope,  the  postillions  contrived  to  bind  it.  We 
next  crossed  a  stream,  and  ascended  a  steppe  to  the  plat¬ 
form  where  stands  Foxshany,  which  we  reached  about 
ten  o’clock,  A.  M. 

This  town  is  situated  pleasantly  among  trees,  and 
adorned  with  glittering  tin  spires,  which  give  it  a  fine 
appearance.  It  has  a  tolerable  khan,  dignified  with  the 
name  of  “  Hotel  de  France,”  kept  by  a  "little  Spaniard, 
who  is  also  the  French  Consular  agent,  and  this  khan 
we  were  glad  to  make  use  of  instead  of  sitting  as  hith¬ 
erto  to  eat  our  meals  in  the  carriage  or  on  the  grass. 
But  our  patience  was  not  a  little  tried  on  finding  that  no 
post-horses  could  be  got ;  Prince  Milosh  and  the  Russian 
Consul  had  so  overwrought  them,  that  they  were  too  wea¬ 
ried  to  set  out  again  at  present.  We  engaged  a  Wallachian 


JEWS — DAY  OF  REPINTANCE. 


399 


peasant,  who  had  four  horses,  to  carry  us  forward  next 
day  to  Birlat,  for  a  considerable  sum.  Meanwhile 
we  visited  the  town,  and  lighted  upon  a  large  school  as¬ 
sembled  in  the  open  air,  under  a  verandah.  At  the  close, 
we  observed  that  all  prayed  and  made  the  sign  of  the 
cross. 

We  visited  the  Jews,  of  whom  there  were  about  sixty 
families  in  the  town,  all  Polish,  ruled  by  a  rabbi,  who  is 
maintained  by  his  brethren  and  carries  on  no  trade. 
We  were  told  that  they  have  four  teachers,  each  attend¬ 
ed  by  a  few  children,  and  supported  by  the  high  remune¬ 
ration  which  is  given  by  parents  for  their  education. 
One  man  gave  12  roubles,  or  2 /.  10s.  a-month,  for  two 
children;  and  another  paid  13/,  for  five  months  for  his 
family.  And  yet  these  children  learn  very  little.  The 
Jew  who  took  us  to  the  postmaster,  spoke  to  us  on  the 
object  of  our  visit,  and  we  explained  to  him  the  only  way 
of  salvation.  Most  of  the  Jews  here  are  mechanics ;  very 
many  are  tailors  and  shoemakers.  We  found  such  a 
measure  of  sincere  devotion  among  them,  that  no  one 
would  lend  us  his  horses,  or  accompany  us  on  the  mor¬ 
row,  simply  because  it  was  the  Jewish  Sabbath.  They 
have  two  synagogues,  and  one  “  Beth-midrash ,”  or  pub¬ 
lic  room  for  study. 

This  evening  was  the  commencement  of  the  “  Day  of 
Repentance,”  (rnwn  or,  yom  teshuvah,)  a  name  given  to 
the  Sabbath  immediately  preceding  the  “  Day  of  Atone¬ 
ment.”  On  the  morrow  the  Rabbi  was  to  preach  a  ser¬ 
mon  urging  them  to  repentance ;  and  this  is  one  of  the 
two  occasions  during  the  year  whereon  they  have  a  re¬ 
gular  sermon,  the  only  other  sermon  being  at  the  Feast 
of  the  Passover.  In  the  ten  days  between  the  New  Year 
and  the  Day  of  Atonement,  the  Jews  abound  more  in 
almsgiving  and  prayers  than  during  all  the  rest  of  the 
year.  Accordingly,  both  their  synagogues  were  full  of 
worshippers,  loud  and  active  in  their  devotions ;  even 
the  little  boys  were  rocking  to  and  fro,  and  reading 
prayers  with  great  earnestness,  their  gestures  resem¬ 
bling  those  of  the  Jews  of  Saphet  more  nearly  than  any 
we  had  seen.  When  the  service  was  over,  a  crowd 
came  round,  and  asked  who  we  were,  and  whence  we 
came.  We  said  that  “  we  came  from  a  far  country  out 
of  love  for  Israel,  to  tell  them  the  way  of  forgiveness.” 
Not  knowing  what  to  make  of  us,  they  at  last  demanded 
“ whether  Messiah  had  come ,  or  was  to  come?”  We  an¬ 
swered,  “  that  both  were  true,  that  he  had  come  once  to 


400 


FOXSHANY  TO  BIRLAT — RIVER  SERET. 


die,  and  was  to  come  a  second  time  in  glory.”  Many 
turned  away  on  hearing  this,  and  would  listen  no 
more. 

Foxshany  being  the  frontier  town  of  Wallachia  and 
Moldavia,  we  were  harassed  a  good  deal  in  getting  our 
passports  rightly  signed,  having  to  go  first  to  the  Gov¬ 
ernor  of  the  town,  then  to  the  Wallachian  police,  next  to 
the  Moldavian  police,  and  lastly  to  the  British  Vice-Con¬ 
sul.  A  narrow  stream  running  through  the  town  di¬ 
vides  the  two  provinces.  At  the  Wallachian  office  a 
man  was  in  attendance  with  the  knout  in  his  hand,  a 
large  thick  whip,  often  applied  without  mercy  to  those 
who  are  in  the  least  degree  disrespectful  or  unruly. 

(Sept.  14.)  We  bade  adieu  to  the  obliging  little  Spani¬ 
ard,  the  keeper  of  the  Hotel  de  France,  and  started  at 
three  o’clock  in  the  morning.  On  reaching  the  frontier 
gate,  however,  the  soldier  on  guard  could  himself  neither 
read  nor  write ;  and,  the  examiner  of  passports  being 
asleep,  we  were  forced  to  wait  till  he  chose  to  rise,  sigh¬ 
ing  in  vain  for  the  liberty  of  our  native  land.  It  was 
nearly  sunrise  before  we  were  fairly  clear.  We  were 
now  riding  briskly,  in  a  misty  cool  morning,  on  our  way 
to  the  river  Seret,  which  we  soon  crossed  by  a  bridge 
of  boats,  at  a  deep  and  rapid  part  where  lives  have  fre¬ 
quently  been  lost.  Nearly  forty  yoke  of  oxen,  dragging 
heavy  laden  wagons  to  the  market,  were  waiting  on  the 
other  side,  and  crossing  one  by  one,  after  paying  toll. 
We  then  ascended  a  steppe  into  a  fine  plain  of  vast  ex¬ 
tent.  Soon  the  country  became  more  undulating  and 
better  wooded.  Several  pleasant  villages  appeared,  with 
scattered  white  cottages.  The  name  of  one  of  these 
was  Taoutchy.  Most  of  the  houses  in  the  villages  we 
came  to  are  built,  not  continuously,  but  at  small  inter¬ 
vals,  with  trees  round  each,  giving  them  a  picturesque 
and  cleanly  appearance.  The  churches  are  frequently 
white-washed  and  surmounted  with  glittering  spires. 
The  tall  poles  at  the  well,  and  the  large  haystacks  afford¬ 
ing  provision  for  their  long  winter,  are  characteristic 
objects ;  while  the  large  ugly  swine,  with  immense  bristles 
on  the  ridge  of  the  back,  and  the  handsome  shaggy  dogs 
that  rush  out  as  you  approach,  enliven  the  scene  to  a 
passing  visitor. 

About  nine  o’clock  we  stopped  and  set  the  horses  free 
to  feed  and  rest,  while  we  got  a  supply  of  milk  at  a  cot¬ 
tage,  and  sat  down  upon  the  grass  to  breakfast,  adjourn¬ 
ing  afterwards  to  the  wooded  banks  of  a  stream  that 


BIRLAT — SABBATH. 


401 


wandered  through  the  wide  vale,  that  we  might  taste  the 
joy  of  the  Psalmist,  “My  meditation  of  him  shall  be 
sweet.”  We  then  proceeded,  and  having  at  midday 
reached  the  “  podovino”  (as  our  drivers  called  it  in  Rus¬ 
sian),  that  is,  “half-way,”  our  horses  were  again  turned 
loose  on  the  grass,  while  we  climbed  a  woody  eminence 
commanding  a  wide  view  of  the  country.  The  scenery 
during  the  rest  of  the  day  was  much  like  the  preceding, 
only  it  had  more  of  hill  and  dale.  We  reached  Birlat 
about  five  o’clock  in  the  evening,  being  five  posts  from 
Foxshany.  We  occupied  the  upper  room  of  the  khan, 
and  spreading  our  mats  on  the  wooden  divan,  enjoyed  a 
pleasant  Saturday  evening,  writing  home,  and  preparing 
for  the  Sabbath  that  was  drawing  on. 

Birlat  is  pleasantly  situated,  occupying,  like  all  Mol¬ 
davian  towns,  a  large  space  of  ground,  and  having  a 
population  of  10,000.  The  principal  church  has  three 
handsome  tin  spires,  surmounted  by  four  gilded  crosses, 
much  ornamented,  as  the  crosses  of  the  Greek  church 
always  are.  The  outside  of  their  churches,  especially 
where  there  are  Russians,  have  pictures  on  the  walls. 
In  the  church-yard,  instead  of  gravestones,  they  have 
black  wooden  crosses ;  and  by  the  way-side  there  are 
stone  crosses,  the  same  as  we  observed  before,  often  two 
or  three  together. 

(Sept.  15.  Sabbath.)  We  enjoyed  a  comfortable  Sab¬ 
bath  in  the  upper  room  of  the  khan,  though  it  was  with 
difficulty  we  procured  necessary  food,  as  the  people  at 
first  told  us  that  we  could  have  none  without  going  out 
to  the  bazaar  to  buy  it.  The  atmosphere  was  pleasant, 
the  thermometer  standing  at  74°  in  the  shade,  as  in  a 
summer  day  at  home. 

In  the  afternoon,  we  went  first  to  the  principal  church, 
and  found  only  the  priest  and  three  deacons,  without  an 
audience,  hurrying  through  the  prayers,  and  chanting 
without  feeling  or  even  melody.  We  next  went  to  a 
smaller  church,  built  entirely  of  wood.  Here  the  priest 
had  six  or  eight  boys,  in  ragged  clothes,  who  repeated 
the  responses,  while  two  old  men  and  half  a  dozen  of  old 
women  made  up  the  audience.  The  walls  of  both 
churches  were  covered  over  with  pictures  and  other 
ornaments,  and  when  all  was  done,  every  one  kneeled 
down  with  the  head  to  the  floor  three  times,  crossed 
themselves  between  every  prostration,  kissed  the  pic¬ 
tures,  and  retired. 

The  morning  service  commences  at  eight  or  nine,  and 

36 


4 


402  BIRLAT—GREEK  CHURCHES — SYNAGOGUES. 

at  that  time  all  the  churches  are  crowded;  but  after  that 
is  over,  the  whole  day  is  spent  in  amusements,  cards, 
billiards,  and  drinking,  the  priests  themselves  setting  the 
example.  May  not  a  Jewish  missionary  be  blessed  to 
shed  some  light  even  on  these  dark  abodes  of  a  heartless 
superstition '!  The  synagogues  of  Corinth  ana  Thessa- 
lonica  brought  salvation  to  the  Gentiles  in  their  respec¬ 
tive  towns ;  and  it  may  again  be  so  in  these  regions,  if 
the  Lord  answer  our  prayers  and  prosper  our  mission¬ 
aries. 

We  had  seen  Jews  in  the  streets  on  Saturday  when  we 
arrived  ;  and  now  we  met  one,  who  led  us  to  their  syna¬ 
gogue.  There  are  130  Jewish  families  from  Russia, 
Austria,  and  Germany,  who  live  quietly  here,  and,  gene¬ 
rally  speaking,  suffer  no  persecution.  In  the  synagogue 
two  lads  entered  very  eagerlyinto  conversation  with  us 
in  German.  We  began  by  telling  them  how  different 
Christians  in  England  and  Scotland  were  from  those  in 
their  country.  They  wondered  much,  and  asked,  “If 
we  wore  Tephillin,”  i.  e.  phylacteries.  We  said,  “No, 
for  this  is  not  commanded  in  the  Word  of  God,  but  only 
in  their  traditions.”  We  then  spoke  a  long  time  on  the 
Scriptures  being  the  Word  of  God,  whereas  the  Talmud 
was  the  word  of  man.  We  referred  to  their  prayers; 
showing  that  they  did  not  procure  pardon,  but  that  Mes¬ 
siah  only  could  do  this  by  becoming  surety  for  us.  Both 
of  the  young  men  were  very  attentive,  and  greatly  sur¬ 
prised  that  we  believed  the  Scriptures  (*pn)  as  firmly  as 
the  Jews  do.  Meanwhile,  a  group  gathered  round  Mr. 
Caiman.  They  told  him  that  they  all  believe  in  the 
divine  authority  of  the  leader  of  the  Chasidim,  in  Russia, 
a  Rabbi  of  wealth,  who  used  to  have  attendants  and  a 
band  of  music  following  him  whenever  he  rode  out  in 
his  carriage.  He  had  a  chamber  in  his  house,  where  it 
was  believed  that  Messiah  will  stay  when  he  comes ; 
and  at  the  beginning  of  each  Sabbath  went  into  this 
chamber,  pretending  to  salute  Messiah  and  wish  him 
“  Good  Sabbath.”  He  had  two  fine  horses,  on  one  of 
which  Messiah  is  to  ride,  and  himself  upon  the  other. 
Not  long  ago,  being  accused  before  the  Emperor  by  the 
Jews  who  are  not  Chasidim,  of  sending  great  sums  of 
money  to  the  Holy  Land,  and  teaching  that  it  is  no  sin 
to  cheat  the  Government  by  smuggling,  he  was  imprison¬ 
ed  at  Kiow,  and,  though  large  sums  have  been  offered 
for  his  release,  he  is  still  in  prison.  They  also  spoke  of 
another  Rabbi  of  the  Chasidim,  at  Navoritz  in  Poland, 


LEAVE  BIRLAT — YOKE  FOR  OXEN. 


403 


who  had  been  warning  the  Jews  against  the  belief  that 
Messiah  would  come  that  year  or  next  year,  being  afraid 
that  they  would  turn  infidels  if  Messiah  did  not  come.* 
When  they  spoke  of  their  present  misery,  Mr.  Caiman 
said  that  they  should  inquire  whether  the  cause  of  it  was 
not  their  rejection  of  Christ  1  They  said,  they  still  ex¬ 
pected  Messiah;  and  that  he  is  to  come  when  their  na¬ 
tion  is  either  very  corrupt ,  or  very  pure,  even  as  the  leper 
was  counted  clean  either  when  his  whole  body  was  white, 
or  when  there  was  no  sign  of  leprosy  at  all.f  Therefore, 
said  they,  there  is  no  need  of  our  repenting  before  he 
comes.  We  gave  them  some  tracts  and  left  them. 

On  leaving  Birlat  next  morning,  we  prevailed  on  the 
keeper  of  the  khan,  though  with  great  difficulty,  to  sell 
us  a  picture  of  Christ  on  the  Cross,  surrounded  by  devils, 
which  hung  on  the  wall  as  a  charm.  On  the  wall  of  an 
inn  upon  the  road,  we  saw  a  small  picture  of  the  Virgin, 
having  the  frame  set  round  with  lamps  that  bore  the 
marks  of  often  being  kindled  in  her  honour.  Passing 
some  country  wagons,  we  examined  minutely  the  large 
clumsy  yoke  which  is  fastened  on  the  necks  of  oxen.  It 


is  a  large  wooden  frame,  so  heavy  and  stiff  that  the 
animal  cannot  put  down  its  head  to  feed,  unless  the  side 
pins  be  taken  out,  and  its  neck  released  from  the  yoke. 
This  opened  up  to  us  the  meaning  of  the  prophet,  “  I  was 
to  them  as  they  that  take  off  the  yoke  on  their  jaws ,  and 
I  laid  meat  unto  them”\  Windmills  and  acacia-trees 
were  the  common  objects  that  varied  the  scene  on  the 
road.  A  small  lake  occurs  not  far  distant  from  the  town, 
and  near  it  a  pillar  on  which  is  represented  St.  Peter 
with  the  keys.  There  are  several  neat  wells,  with  seats 
round  them  for  the  accommodation  of  travellers,  in  the 

*  Mr.  Caiman  knew  well  a  pretended  forerunner  of  Messiah  at  his 
own  place  of  birth,  Bauske  in  Courland.  In  youth  he  was  himself  led 
away  by  him.  “  False  Christs  and  false  prophets”  continue  to  rise  in 

Israel.  .  TT  .  . 

t  Lev.  xiii.  6,  13.  1  H°s>  X1*  4* 


404 


TATA-MARESTI  KHAN — JEWS — WASLUI. 


Eastern  fashionjntroduced  into  this  region  by  the  Turks. 
Further  on,  we  passed  an  encampment  of  Zingans,  near 
a  stream,  on  the  opposite  side  of  which  people  were 
dressing  flax. 

At  midday,  we  rested  two  hours  in  a  pleasant  khan, 
called  Tata-maresti.  While  there,  a  sick  Jew  coming  up 
in  a  cart,  we  spoke  to  him  and  gave  him  a  little  medicine 
which  relieved  him.  The  poor  man  was  so  grateful  that 
he  sent  back  a  messenger  with  the  offer  of  "money  as  a 
recompense.  Meanwhile  another  interesting  Jew  spoke 
with  us.  He  could  not  believe  that  we  were  Christians, 
because  we  knew  Hebrew.  We  told  him  about  the 
Christians  in  England,  and  the  duty  of  searching  the 
Scriptures.  He  said  that  many  Polish  rabbis  forbid  the 
reading  of  the  Bible ;  that  he  had  a  fine  boy  whom  the 
rabbis  wanted  to  begin  the  Talmud,  but  he  was  resolved 
not  to  permit  him ;  and  spoke  of  a  Jew  in  Jassy,  who  was 
called  an  Epicurus  by  the  Jews,  because  he  studied  the 
Bible  so  much.  He  said  that  there  were  fifty  families 
of  Jews  at  the  village  of  Nacoush  near  Jassy,  and  more 
at  Waslui. 

As  we  proceeded,  the  character  of  the  country  became 
more  varied.  Our  way  lay  through  a  fine  open  valley 
with  meadow  land  enclosed  by  wooded  hills.  A  smooth 
river  flowed  through  the  vale.  Late  at  night  we  arrived 
at  Waslui,  and  found  one  Jewish  khan  already  fully  oc¬ 
cupied  with  Jews,  on  their  way  to  Jassy  to  keep  the 
day  of  atonement  there.  In  another  we  found  a  wretched 
lodging,  though  the  poor  people  gave  us  their  best  apart¬ 
ment,  and  slept  in  the  verandah  themselves.  We  spread 
our  mats  on  the  clay  floor  and  attempted  to  sleep,  but  in 
vain.  We  cared  less  for  this,  however,  because  it  was 
the  night  preceding  the  day  of  atonement,  and  we  had 
thus  an  opportunity  of  seeing  the  curious  ceremony 
which  then  takes  place.  On  the  eve  of  that  solemn  day, 
it  is  the  custom  of  the  Jews  to  kill  a  cock  for  every  man, 
and  a  hen  for  every  woman.  During  the  repetition  of  a 
certain  form  of  prayer,  the  Jew  or  Jewess  moves  the  living 
fowl  round  their  head  three  times.  Then  they  lay  their 
hands  on  it,  as  the  hands  used  to  be  laid  on  the  sacrifices, 
and  immediately  after  give  it  to  be  slaughtered.  We 
rose  before  one  a.  m.,  and  saw  the  Jewish  Shochet,  or 
“  slayer,”  going  round  the  Jewish  houses,  waking 
each  family,  and  giving  them  a  light  from  his  lantern, 
in  order  that  they  might  rise  and  bring  out  their  “  Cip- 
porah ”  or  “  atonement,”  namely,  the  appointed  cock  and 


JEWISH  CEREMONIES — THE  CIPPORAH — SACRIFICES.  405 

hen.  We  walked  about  the  streets ;  every  where  the 
sound  of  the  imprisoned  fowls  was  to  be  heaid,  and  a 
lio'ht  seen  in  all  the  dwellings  of  Israel.  In  two  houses 
the  fowls  were  already  dead  and  plucked.  In  another, 
we  came  to  a  window,  and  saw  distinctly  what  was  go¬ 
ing  on  within.  A  little  boy  was  reading  prayers,  and 
his  widowed  mother  standing  over  him,  with  a  white 
hen  in  her  hands.  When  he  came  to  a  certain  place  in 
the  prayer,  the  mother  lifted  up  the  struggling  fowl  and 
waved  it  round  her  head,  repeating  these  words,  “  This 
he  my  substitute ,  this  he  my  exchange ,  this  he  my  atone¬ 
ment ;  this  fowl  shall  go  to  death ,  and  I  to  a  blessed 
life” — or  in  Hebrew, 


'jiD'Sn  nr  (zeh  chaliphathi) 

*miDn  nr  (zeh  temorathi) 

*mi B3  nr  (zeh  cipporathi) 

:  □'ovj  o^n1?  ■oru  nn'D1?  i1?'  (mt?'UJnnn  or)  bumnn  nr 

This  was  done  three  times  over,  and  then  the  door  of  the 
house  was  opened,  and  out  ran  the  boy  carrying  the 
fowl  to  the  Shochet ,  to  be  killed  by  him  in  the  proper 
manner. 

How  foolish  and  yet  how  affecting  is  this  ceremony ! 
This  is  the  only  blood  that  is  shed  in  Israel  now.  No 
more  does  the  blood  of  bulls  and  goats  flow  beside  the 
brazen  altar,  the  continual  burnt-offering  is  no  moie, 
even  the  paschal  lamb  is  no  more  slain ;  a  cock  and  hen 
killed  by  the  knife  of  the  Shochet  is  all  the  sacrifice  that 
Israel  knows.  It  is  for  this  wretched  self-devised  sacri¬ 
fice  that  they  reject  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  God.  How 
remarkably  does  this  ceremony  show  a  lingering  know¬ 
ledge  in  Israel  of  the  imputation  of  sin,  of  the  true  natuie 
of  sacrifice,  and  of  the  need  of  the  shedding  of  blood  be¬ 
fore  sin  can  be  forgiven  !  And  yet  so  utterly  blind  are 
they  to  the  real  meaning  of  the  ceremony,  that  the  rab¬ 
bis  maintain  that  it  is  not  a  sacrifice ,  but  only  obtains 
forgiveness  as  being  obedience  to  the  traditions  of  the 
elders.  So  that  the  words  of  the  prophet  are  strictly 
true,  “The  children  of  Israel  shall  abide  many  days 
without  a  king,  and  without  a  prince,  and  without  a  sa¬ 
crifice .”  * 


*  Hos.  iii.  4. 

36* 


406  LEAVE  WASLUI— ARRIVAL  IN  JASSY. 

We  left  Waslui  about  two  o’clock  in  the  morning, 
while  it  was  yet  dark,  and  at  seven  rested  for  some  hours 
at  a  wretched  khan,  large  and  nearly  empty,  under  a 
shed.  There  were  several  extensive  marshes  near,  from 
which  dense  exhalations  were  rising,  drawn  out  by  the 
morning  sun.  These  must  render  this  part  of  the  coun¬ 
try  very  unwholesome.  Proceeding  northward  up  a 
long  valley,  the  summits  of  the  hills  being  generally  co¬ 
vered  with  trees,  the  appearance  of  the  country  gradu¬ 
ally  improved,  and  in  the  afternoon  we  came  to  a  really 
pleasant  view.  The  valley  was  closed  up  with  hills  finely 
wooded  with  elms,  wild  apple-trees,  and  plums,  richly 
*aden  with  fruit.  The  woodbine  and  hop-plant  were 
twining  round  the  trees,  and  many  wild  flowers  gave  a 
charm  to  this  wilderness.  Our  road  was  directly  over 
the  ridge  of  hills,  and  our  postillions  continued  to  urge  on 
their  horses  with  their  barbarian  cries  till  we  reached  the 
summit.  A  deep  wooded  ravine  now  lay  beneath,  and 
beyond  it  the  vast  undulating  plain  of  Jassy.  Several 
miles  off  the  city  appeared  of  great  extent,  the  houses 
white,  spires  glittering,  and  much  verdure  around. 

We  entered  it  before  sunset,  and  passed  through  long 
streets  of  artisans,  the  houses  all  of  one  story,  and  poorer 
than  those  of  Bucharest.  The  Jews  were  busily  em¬ 
ployed  in  shutting  up  their  shops  and  dressing.  Many 
families  were  already  on  their  way  to  the  synagogue; 
for  no  one  would  be  absent  on  so  solemn  an  occasion  as 
the  beginning  of  the  Day  of  Atonement.  Many  of  them 
were  fine-looking  men,  and  the  Jewesses  were  beauti¬ 
fully  attired,  some  wearing  jewels.  Putting  up  our  car- 
riage,  we  hastened  to  the  synagogue,  which  we  found 
crowded  to  excess ;  even  the  women’s  gallery  was  quite 
full,  and  there  were  many  children.  "  The  Absolution 
Chant ,  known  by  the  name  of  “  Col  Nidre”  had  been 
sung  before  we  entered.  This  we  wished  much  to  have 
heard,  the  tune  being  plaintive  and  beautiful,  and  one 
which  the  Jews  believe  was  brought  from  Sinai.  Three 
rabbis  stand  up  dressed  in  white,  and  in  their  own  name, 
and  in  the  name  of  God,  absolve  all  in  the  synagogue 
from  the  sins  committed  in  the  year  past.  The  number 
of  large  candles  lighted,  and  the  multitude  of  worship¬ 
pers,  made  the  atmosphere  quite  oppressive  in  all  the 
synagogues  we  visited ;  and  the  perspiration  was  run¬ 
ning  down  in  streams  from  the  zealous  devotees,  whose 
cries  and  frantic  earnestness  might  be  heard  afar  off. 
They  clapped  their  hands,  clasped  them,  wrung  them, 


BRITISH  CONSUL — SYNAGOGUE. 


407 

% 

struck  the  prayer-book,  beat  upon  their  breast,  and 
writhed  their  bodies,  again  reminding  us  of  the  Jews  of 
Saphet  and  Tiberias.  On  this  occasion,  the  Jews  keep 
up  prayer  all  night  and  all  the  next  day,  till  the  time  of 
evening  when  “  the  stars  appear.” 

W e  left  them  for  the  present,  and  found  our  way  to  the 
house  of  the  British  Consul-general,  Mr.  Gardiner,  who 
received  us  with  great  kindness.  We  afterwards  found 
a  lodging  in  the  Hotel  St.  Petersburg,  a  large  establish- 
mentkept  by  a  baptized  Jew  of  the  Greek  Church. 

Early  next  day  (Sept.  18)  we  sought  out  the  synagogue 
again.  The  Jews  came  up  to  the  solemnity  of  the  atone¬ 
ment  from  the  country,  as  they  did  to  Jerusalem  in  former 
days.  We  visited  twelve  of  their  synagogues,  and  found 
all  crowded  with  men,  women,  and  children,  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  previous  night.  At  one  of  them  we  saw 
many  mothers  with  their  children  at  the  breast  or  in  cra¬ 
dles,  sitting  on  the  outside  dressed  in  their  finest  clothes. 
It  reminded  us  of  the  fast  described  by  Joel,  “  Assemble 
the  elders,  gather  the  children ,  and  those  that  suck  the 
breasts.”*  As  there  was  not  sufficient  room  within, 
many  men  were  sitting  under  the  shade  of  the  walls, 
looking  with  their  faces  towards  Jerusalem,  and  praying 
along  "with  those  inside.  The  floor  of  the  synagogue 
was  for  the  most  part  strewed  with  straw  or  hay,  to  add 
to  the  comfort  of  the  worshippers  in  their  long  service ; 
for  most  of  them  put  off  their  shoes,  the  day  being  so 
holy.  All  day  the  synagogue  is  full  of  immense  lighted 
candles.  Each  family  provides  one,  and  each  member 
has  a  thread  in  the  wick  of  the  candle.  These  represent 
the  soul  of  each  person  according  to  their  interpretation 
of  the  Proverb,  “  The  spirit  of  man  is  the  candle  of  the 
Lord.”  t  On  so  solemn  a  day  as  this,  no  Jew  will  touch 
one  of  these  candles,  even  were  it  to  fall  and  endanger 
the  safety  of  the  synagogue.  To  do  so  would  be  ac¬ 
counted  servile  work,  and  therefore  they  employ  a  Gen¬ 
tile  servant,  who  is  called  in  when  any  lights  require  to 
be  trimmed. 

In  the  prayers,  they  go  over  the  greater  part  of  Lev. 
xvi.,  in  which  the  sacrifices  of  the  day  of  atonement  are 
described.  The  rest  of  the  service  consists  in  reading  a 
Hebrew  poem,  of  which  we  were  assured  that  most  of 
the  worshippers  scarcely  understood  one  word,  because 
it  is  most  difficult  Hebrew.  Yet  all  were  engaged  in 
reading  it  aloud.  Sometimes  they  came  to  a  chant,  when 

*  Joel  ii.  16.  t  Prov.  xx.  27. 


403 


DAY  OF  ATONEMENT — SYNAGOGUES. 


the  deep  bass  voice  of  the  chanter  was  contrasted  with 
the  tenor  voices  of  a  few  young  men;  the  effect  was 
often  very  plaintive,  and  sometimes  ludicrous.  Again 
and  again  the  whole  congregation  broke  in  with  “Amen,” 


OLD  RABBI  READING  PRAYERS. 

pronounced  “  Omain .”  Many  of  the  men  seemed  already 
quite  wearied  with  their  worship,  or  rather  with  their 
bodily  exercise,  and  many  had  their  eyes  red  and  swollen 
with  weeping ;  a  good  number  of  the  married,  men  wore 
the  nmSn  (halukah),  or  white  shirt  of  the  rabbis.  Among 
the  women,  some  were  weeping,  and  others  sobbing 
aloud.  A  few  boys  were  as  seriously  engaged  as  their 
elders. 

There  are  200  synagogues  in  the  town,  and  about 
thirty  of  these  are  large.  In  one  quarter  there  are  twenty, 
all  within  the  space  of  a  street.  Some  of  the  buildings 
had  their  roofs  fancifully  painted  with  figures,  represent¬ 
ing  Paradise  and  the  Creation — wild  beasts,  trees,  and 
fishes,  the  golden  candlestick  also,  and  table  of  show- 
bread.  In  several  parts  near  the  entrance  of  the  town, 
we  noticed  the  Eruv ,  or  string  stretched  from  house  to 
house  across  the  street,  to  make  it  a  walled  townt  the 
same  as  we  had  observed  at  Saphet.* 

*  Seep.  283. 


JEWISH  STATISTICS — JEWS. 


109 


We  found  it  impossible  to  ascertain  with  accuracy  the 
numbers  of  the  Jews  in  Jassy.  The  Consul  reckoned 
the  whole  population  of  the  city  at  50,000,  and  the  Jews 
at  somewhat  less  than  the  half,  perhaps  20,000.  This 
would  coincide  with  the  reckoning  of  many  of  the  Jews 
themselves,  who  gave  their  numbers  at  5500  families. 
The  highest  estimate  we  heard  from  a  very  intelligent 
Jew  was  10,000  families,  while  the  lowest  was  3500,  or 
about  15,000  souls.  They  are  regarded  by  the  Govern¬ 
ment  as  a  separate  community,  and  the  capitation-tax  is 
not  levied  from  them  individually,  but  from  their  chief 
men,  who  are  left  to  gather  the  sum  from  their  brethren 
in  the  way  they  think  most  equal  and  fair.  Each  family, 
at  an  average,  pay  a  ducat ,  equal  to  ten  shillings.  The 
way  in  which  the  rulers  of  the  Jews  levy  the  tax  is  as 
follows : — They  lay  it  not  on  the  provisions  of  the  poor, 
but  on  articles  of  luxury.  For  example,  a  goose  is  sold 
for  about  a  zwanzig *  but  they  put  a  tax  on  it  of  half  a 
zwanzig  and  eight  paras.  Thus  the  rich,  who  wish  lux¬ 
uries,  pay  a  high  price  for  them ;  while  the  poor,  who  are 
content  with  the  necessaries  of  life,  escape.  They  do 
not  consider  themselves  oppressed  by  the  Government, 
but  the  common  people  use  them  ill.  As  an  instance  of 
this,  we  were  told  that  a  Moldavian  would  often  reply, 
when  asked  by  a  Jew  to  do  something  for  him,  “  I  would 
as  soon  do  it  for  a  Zingan, .”  The  name  “  Zingan,”  and 
the  epithet  “  cursed,”  is  often  applied  to  them.  All  the 
Jews  here  speak  a  corrupt  dialect  of  German.  They 
follow  all  trades,  except  that  of  a  smith ;  the  most  are 
tailors,  shoemakers,  carpenters,  and  watchmakers;  a 
few  are  idle,  and  sleep  in  the  streets.  There  have  been 
about  twenty  converts  to  the  Greek  Church.  Three  of 
these  are  persons  of  respectability,  one  the  keeper  of  the 
hotel,  another  a  carpenter,  and  the  third  a  student  at 
college — but  all  were  very  ignorant.  The  Jews  believe 
that  their  true  reason  for  seeking  baptism  was,  that  they 
might  get  more  freedom.  It  did  not  make  any  difference 
in  regard  to  their  employment.  If  any  of  the  chief  Jews 
were  to  profess  Christianity,  many  would  follow  their 
example.  Some  of  them  expressed  their  belief  that  Mes¬ 
siah  would  come  in  the  year  1 840,  others  think  it  is  to  be 
in  the  seven-thousandth  year  of  the  world,  and  then  a 
time  of  Sabbaths  is  to  follow.  There  is  a  belief,  too, 
among  many  of  them,  that  the  Russians  (whom  they  sup- 


*  For  the  value  of  the  different  coins  see  Appendix,  No.  II. 


410 


JASSY — SCHOOL — SYNAGOGUES. 


pose  to  be  the  Javan  of  Zech.  ix.  13)  are  to  have  the 
dominion  of  the  world. 

There  are  many  Jewish  Schools  in  Jassy,  but  none  of 
them  good.  Six  of  the  principal  families  have  refused  to 
send  their  children  to  any  of  these  schools  to  be  taught 
the  Talmud,  because  they  think  that  such  studies  make 
them  mean  and  degraded ;  they  either  send  them  else¬ 
where,  or  employ  a  private  tutor.  The  severe  discipline 
used  in  Smyrna  is  not  altogether  unknown  here ;  for  a 
Jew  who  acted  as  our  guide  told  us  that  his  son  often 
came  home  with  his  ears  bleeding,  his  hair  torn  out,  and 
nose  twisted,  all  by  the  barbarous  treatment  of  his 
teacher ;  so  that  the  father  has  frequently  intended  com¬ 
plaining  to  the  police,  or  sending  his  boy  to  be  taught  in 
Russia. 

About  six  in  the  evening,  we  went  to  two  of  the  largest 
synagogues,  to  see  the  ceremonies  of  the  day  of  atone¬ 
ment  concluded.  When  the  sun  is  setting  they  pray  for 
the  last  time,  and  their  crying  out  is  intense,  far  beyond 
all  their  previous  supplications ;  for  if  they  do  not  obtain 
pardon  of  their  sins  before  the  stars  appear,  they  have 
no  hope  remaining  of  obtaining  forgiveness  for  that  year. 
When  about  to  utter  their  last  prayer,  a  trumpet  is 
sounded  like  that  of  the  New  Year,  but  only  one  blast. 
Then  all  is  over !  and  forth  they  come  to  the  light  of  the 
risen  moon,  pouring  like  a  stream  from  the  synagogue. 
They  stood  in  groups,  all  turning  their  faces  toward  the 
moon, — for  the  Jews  believe  that  the  spots  in  the  moon 
are  the  Shecinah.  Each  group  had  a  lighted  candle  to 
enable  one  of  their  number  to  read  the  prayer  addressed 
to  the  Sliecinah  in  the  moon.  Some  held  up  their  hands, 
others  roared  aloud,  and  all  showed  by  their  gestures 
the  intense  feeling  of  their  heart.  It  was  a  grotesque 
scene,  as  well  as  peculiarly  novel,  to  stand  amid  such  a 
company,  each  in  his  high  fur-cap,  the  tallith  round  his 
shoulders,  and  generally  his  beard  flowing  wide  over  the 
book  he  was  reading.  As  we  looked  upon  the  crowds 
of  worshippers  that  filled  the  spacious  court  of  the  syna¬ 
gogue,  and  saw  their  white  eyes  ever  and  anon  turned 
up  toward  the  bright  moon,  we  were  irresistibly  remind¬ 
ed  of  the  days  when  the  fathers  of  that  singular  people 
forsook  the  worship  of  Jehovah,  and  “  served  Baal  and 
Ashtaroth,”  and  “  made  cakes  to  the  queen  of  heaven.”* 
This  service  being  done,  they  appeared  as  if  relieved 
from  the  pressure  of  an  overwhelming  load,  for  they 

*  Judg.  ii.  13;  x.  6.  Jer.  vii.  18. 


JEWISH  CEREMONIES— -CONSUL. 


411 


had  fasted  and  prayed  for  twenty-four  hours,  and  now 
dispersed  themselves  in  all  directions.  Many  went  home¬ 
wards  singing  with  great  glee  in  the  open  streets,  and 
shouting  aloud  to  each  other,  “  Peace  to  thee,  and  peace 
to  thee  !”  This  is  said  to  be  done  because  their  sins  are 
now  forgiven.  How  little  they  know  of  pardon !  the 
pardon  obtained  by  God’s  method  of  justification,  which 
would  sanctify  and  draw  the  sinner’s  heart  to  Him,  in¬ 
stead  of  making  it  return  to  folly.  “  There  is  forgive¬ 
ness  with  thee  that  thou  mayst  be  feared .”  It  is  not  un¬ 
usual  for  Jews  to  meet  the  same  night  in  their  synagogue 
and  be  merry  together,  and  we  soon  after  saw  several 
public-houses  open,  at  whose  door  we  could  look  in; 
and  there  were  Jews  sitting  together  drinking  rakee ,  and 
singing  merrily.  In  one,  a  Jew  was  singing  over  his 
cups  to  the  full  pitch  of  his  voice.  False  peace  leads  to 
false  holiness.  Thus  ended  the  day  of  atonement.  Alas ! 
how  changed  from  the  solemn  day,  when  the  high  priest 
entered  into  the  holiest  of  all !  During  the  whole  cere¬ 
mony,  we  observed  that  the  people  of  the  town  never 
interrupted  them  in  any  manner. 

We  got  much  general  information  from  the  Consul. 
The  expenses  of  living  in  Jassy  are  much  the  same  as  at 
Bucharest.  There  is  difficulty  in  getting  a  house  at  all, 
and  the  rent  is  very  high.  A  carriage  of  some  kind  is 
indispensable ;  for  even  tailors  and  shoemakers  require 
these  on  account  of  the  badness  of  the  roads.  It  is  ne¬ 
cessary,  also,  to  keep  many  servants.  But  the  necessa¬ 
ries  of  life  are  very  cheap. 

Jassy  is  much  improved  as  a  city;  the  streets  were 
formerly  paved  with  wood,  but  this  is  no  longer  the  case. 
It  has  no  fewer  than  seventy  churches ;  the  climate  is 
much  more  healthy  than  that  of  Bucharest,  though  there 
is  a  Moldavian  fever  prevalent  at  a  certain  season.  Di¬ 
vorce  is  not  so  common  as  it  used  to  be;  the  stream  of 
public  feeling  is  now  turning  against  it.  Yet  it  is  too 
evident  that  the  fear  of  God  is  not  in  this  place.  Of  this 
the  Consul  related  an  affecting  proof.— One  evening  in 
January  1838,  a  great  ball  was  given,  at  which  most  of 
the  Boyards  were  to  be  present.  He  and  a  Moldavian 
gentleman  were  preparing  to  set  out, — their  carriage  was 
at  the  door,  when  a  dreadful  shock  of  an  earthquake 
startled  the  whole  town.  At  his  house,  the  tall  mast  that 
bears  aloft  the  British  flag  rocked  to  and  fro.  After  some 
minutes’  silence,  his  friend  proposed  that  they  should 
still  set  out  for  the  ball.  The  Consul  replied  that  it  would 
be  useless,  for  no  one  would  be  there  at  such  an  awfu! 


412 


JASSY — PRINCE  OF  MOLDAVIA — JEWS. 


time.  However,  the  other  pressed,  and  he  reluctantly 
consented  to  go.  They  drove  up  to  the  place,  and  en¬ 
tered  the  room.  It  was  brilliantly  lighted,  and  the  gay 
company  were  met ;  but  all  sat  silent,  pale  as  death.  A 
large  rent  had  been  made  in  the  wall,  and  the  plaster  had 
fallen  on  the  floor.  The  Consul  kept  his  eye  on  the  door, 
expecting  another  shock  every  moment.  In  a  few  mi¬ 
nutes,  however,  one  of  the  company  made  an  effort  to 
strike  up  an  air,  the  floor  was  swept,  the  dance  began, 
and  all  was  mirth  and  levity.  “  The  harp,  and  the  viol, 
the  tabret,  and  pipe,  and  wine,  are  in  their  feasts;  but 
they  regard  not  the  work  of  the  Lord,  neither  consider 
the  operation  of  his  hands.”  * 

The  Prince  of  Moldavia  resides  in  Jassy;  he  is  very 
affable  to  strangers,  and  was  favourable  to  the  circula¬ 
tion  of  the  Scriptures  in  his  dominions ;  but  the  Bishop 
is  a  bigoted  man,  and  would  not  allow  it.  When  the 
Consul  informed  the  Prince  of  our  arrival,  he  asked  what 
our  object  was  in  travelling  through  Moldavia,  and  ex¬ 
pressed  a  wish  to  see  us.  We  delayed  our  departure  a 
day  longer  in  order  to  accomplish  this  visit,  but  the 
Prince  was  taken  unwell  and  could  not  receive  us. 
There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  Government 
will  not  interfere  with  the  labours  of  a  Jewish  Missionary 
in  this  province. 

Late  in  the  evening,  an  intelligent  Jew  called  on  us  by 
appointment,  and  from  him  we  received  some  curious 
facts  regarding  the  Jews  here.  Three  years  ago,  a 
Rabbi,  the  greatest  man  in  Jassy,  began  to  read  the 
Scriptures  much,  and  to  preach  against  the  Talmud. 
The  Jews  were  so  angry  that  they  drove  him  and  his 
family  from  the  city,  so  that  he  was  obliged  to  go  to 
Brody.  They  gave  him  1000  ducats  as  an  atonement, 
for  it  is  considered  a  great  sin  to  expel  a  rabbi.  A  rich 
Jew  here,  named  Michael  Daniel,  a  man  of  eighty  years 
of  age,  has  a  teacher  in  his  house  to  instruct  him  in  the 
Cabala.  In  Kotsin,  twenty  miles  from  Jassy,  there  is  a 
sect  of  the  Chasidim,  called  inn,  Habad  (that  is  persons 
who  profess  njn  nnn  nann,  “  wisdom,  understanding,  and 
knowledge  ”).  On  the  night  after  the  Day  of  Atonement, 
as  a  party  of  them  were  coming  home,  with  singing  and 
other  expressions  of  joy,  they  found  a  Jew  drunk,  and 
who  had  fallen  asleep.  This  Jew  had  a  gipsy  servant, 
who  spoke  German,  and  he,  for  the  sake  of  amusement, 
dressed  himself  up  in  the  sleeping  Jew’s  clothes,  and 

*  Isa.  v.  12. 


JEWISH  SCHOOL. 


413 


headed  the  Jewish  party.  They  took  the  drunk  man 
and  carried  him  through  the  streets  to  another  house  in 
their  foolish  revelry.  The  gipsy  having  a  grudge  at  the 
Jews,  went  to  the  Moldavians  and  said,  “  they  were  imi¬ 
tating  the  ceremony  of  the  Church,  when,  at  Easter, 
they  carry  about  a  large  figure  representing  Christ. 
The  people  were  excited,  and  rushed  on  the  Jews;  one 
was  killed  on  the  spot;  twelve  were  imprisoned,  and 
afterwards  sentenced  to  be  hanged ;  but  Michael  Daniel 
having  lent  the  Prince  6000  ducats,  and  another  Jew 
having  lent  2000,  they  offered  to  make  a  present  of  these 
sums,  along  with  2000  ducats  out  of  the  Jewish  treasury, 
to  get  their  brethren  released.  This  was  agreed  to ;  but 
the  guilty  persons  were  sent  out  of  the  country.  How 
strikingly  these  facts  show  the  fulfilment  of  the  threat¬ 
ening,  “  Thou  shalt  grope  at  noonday,  as  the  blind  gropeth 
in  darkness,  and  thou  shall  not  prosper  in  thy  ways ;  and 
thou  shalt  be  only  oppressed  and  spoiled  evermore ,  and 
no  man  shall  save  thee.'1'1  * 

We  devoted  the  next  day  (Sept.  19)  entirely  to  visit¬ 
ing  the  Jews.  First  we  visited  a  school  of  thirty  children, 
both  boys  and  girls,  with  fine  Jewish  countenances.  A 
poor  sick  boy  lay  on  a  couch  in  the  same  room,  far  gone 
in  consumption.  The  teacher  was  busily  employed  in 
his  work.  His  method  seemed  to  be  to  repeat  over 
every  syllable,  until  each  scholar  could  fully  pronounce 
it.  The  boys  and  girls  got  the  same  tuition,  and  the 
prayer-book  seemed  to  be  the  only  school-book.  The 
children  were  amazed  at  the  entrance  of  strangers,  and 
ran  eagerly  round  us.  We  learned  from  the  teacher 
that  the  children  were  taught  only  to  read ,  not  to  under¬ 
stand.  Nay,  he  himself  could  not  explain  the  words  of 
the  passage  which  they  were  reading.  When  asked 
why  he  did  not  explain  the  words,  he  referred  to  Ps. 
cxix.  18,  “  Open  thou  mine  eyes  to  see  wondrous  things 
out  of  thy  law ;”  and  drew  from  it  the  inference  that 
it  was  not  to  be  expected  that  a  teacher  should  be  able 
to  explain  all  that  he  taught.  Several  Jews  had  by  this 
time  gathered  round,  to  whom  Mr.  Caiman  spoke,  try¬ 
ing  to  show  them  how  ruinous  and  deplorable  their 
ignorance  of  the  Word  of  God  is.  They  seemed  con¬ 
vinced, — only  they  said  it  was  universal  in  Jassy. 

We  went  to  see  the  old  Jew  of  whom  we  had  got  in¬ 
formation,  called  an  Epicurus.  He  was  a  fine-looking 
man,  of  about  sixty  years  of  age,  mild  and  thoughtful, 

*  Deut.  xxviii.  29. 

37 


/ 


414 


JASSY— -JEW  OF  THE  NEW  SCHOOL. 


and  his  son,  an  interesting  youth,  very  like  his  father, 
was  sitting  with  him.  They  were  true  specimens  of  the 
Neologian  Jews  who  have  cast  off  the  Talmud,  but  at 
the  same  time  reject,  or  almost  reject,  the  Word  of  God. 
The  old  man  said  that  in  youth  he  had  been  taught  that 
the  Scriptures  and  the  Talmud  were  both  divine ;  and  that 
now,  having  been  enlightened  to  see  the  fables  and  folly  of 
the  Talmud,  he  was  naturally  led  to  doubt  the  authority 
of  the  Bible  also.  He  added,  “  he  was  sorry  that  he  could 
not  believe  the  Bible  to  be  the  Word  of  God.”  He  told  us 
that  he  believed  none  but  himself  in  all  Jassy  could  speak 
the  Hebrew ;  that  scarcely  any  of  the  Jews  knew  their 
own  language  grammatically ;  and  that  they  did  not 
wish  their  children  to  be  taught.  “They  want  no 
change.  We  are  doing  all  we  can  to  throw  in  firebrands 
among  the  stubble  of  the  Talmud ;  but  ‘  Der  alte  stier 
will  niclit  lernen  mehr ’ — the  old  ox  will  not  learn.  If 
you  do  any  thing  for  them  you  must  hide  the  good.” 
They  had  employed  teachers  to  teach  the  young  gram¬ 
matically,  but  the  parents  would  not  send  them ;  the 
children  themselves,  however,  got  so  fond  of  them,  that 
they  used  to  follow  them  on  the  streets,  seeking  instruc¬ 
tion.  When  we  turned  up  to  Isaiah  liii.  he  said  he  be¬ 
lieved  it  referred  to  Jesus ;  but  that  it  was  written  by 
some  Christian  after  the  event.  As  a  similar  case  of  in¬ 
terpolation,  he  referred  to  Num.  xxi.  27,  28,  as  written 
after  Jer.  xlviii.  45,  46.  He  got  this  idea  from  Jost’s 
History  of  the  Jews ;  but  could  not  give  any  proof,  nor 
could  he  answer  the  arguments  that  show  the  authen¬ 
ticity  of  the  passage.  When  we  pressed  him  about  sin 
and  the  need  of  pardon,  he  said,  “  We  do  not  sin  against 
God,  because  he  is  infinitely  beyond  us ;  but  we  sin 
against  our  neighbours,  and  the  punishment  of  sin  is 
solely  in  our  conscience.”  The  young  man  was  much 
less  imbued  with  Neologian  opinions,  and  said  to  us, 
“that  he  was  now  more  a  Christian  than  a  Jew.”  He 
acknowledged  that  we  do  sin  against  God,  and  that  no¬ 
thing  but  a  sense  of  pardon  can  give  peace.  But  when 
we  stated  that  Christians  believe  themselves  forgiven  on 
the  ground  of  the  atonement,  he  said,  “  I  may'have  as 
much  peace  as  they,  if  I  believe  myself  forgiven  even  on 
other  grounds.”  He  admitted  the  inspiration  of  the  Pen¬ 
tateuch,  but  not  of  the  Prophets.  The  old  man  told  us 
that  both  he  and  his  son  belonged  to  a  secret  society  in 
Tarnapol,  a  town  of  Austrian  Poland,  and  that  the  chief 


OLD  JEW — CHIEP  RABBI, 


415 


rabbi  of  the  rabbinical  Jews  there  is  at  the  head  of  it, 
unknown  to  his  people.  They  work  like  Jesuits,  con¬ 
forming  externally  to  Judaism,  but  diffusing  their  piin- 
ciples  in  secret  as  widely  as  possible.  Their  young  men 
are  teachers  of  languages,  and  have  thus  opportunity  to 
leaven  the  minds  of  the  Jewish  youth  with  theii  ss^ti- 
ments.  This  young  man  himself  is  tutor  in  six  of  the 
wealthy  Jewish  families  in  Jassy,  whose  children  aie  en¬ 
tirely  under  his  influence,  hating  Judaism,  and  keeping 
the  Christian  as  well  as  the  Jewish  Sabbath.  Another 
son  of  this  old  Jew  lives  at  Vienna  with  a  brothel -in-law, 
who  is  baptized  and  is  enjoined  to  bring  up  the  youth  as 
a  Christian.  There  are  a  great  many  in  Vienna  who 
have  their  children  baptized,  although  the  fathers  like  to 
die  Jews.  In  Galicia  many  fathers  are  bringing  up  their 
children  to  Christianity,  and  it  is  said  that  there  are 
more  baptisms  than  births,  “  so  that  in  a  century  (s&id 
the  old  man)  there  will  not  be  a  Jew  in  all  Galicia.’ 
When  he  heard  that  we  were  ministers  and  Calvinists, 
he  said  he  had  read  a  great  deal,  and  knew  the  Calvinis- 
tic  system;  that  it  was  the  most  philosophical,  and  ad¬ 
ded,  “  If  I  were  turning  Christian  I  would  become  a 
Calvinist.”  Both  these  Jews  were  very  kind  to  us,  the 
old  man  saying  that  this  was  one  of  the  happiest  days 
of  his  life.  What  an  awful  scene  does  this  interview  lay 
open — half  the  nation  of  Israel  tottering  on  the  brink  of 
infidelity  !  Those  who  have  light  enough  to  see  the  folly 
of  the  Talmud  have  not  grace  enough  to  believe  the 
Word  of  God.  The  rusty  shackles  of  Judaism  are  be¬ 
ginning  to  fall  off,  but  the  withered  arms  of  Israel  have 
no  life  to  lay  hold  on  the  Saviour  promised  to  their  fa¬ 
thers.  Thousands  in  Israel  are  in  a  transition  state,  but 
it  is  not  such  a  change  as  that  spoken  of  in  the  Prophets, 
“  I  will  go  and  return  to  my  first  husband ,  for  then  was 
it  better  with  me  than  now.”  *  The  door  is  open  and 
the  time  critical,  and  it  seems  plainly  the  duty  of  the 
Christian  Church  without  delay  to  interpose  in  their  be¬ 
half,  to  allure  Israel,  and  speak  comfortably  unto  her, 
and  to  say,  “  O  Israel,  return  unto  the  Lord  thy  God,  for 
thou  hast  fallen  by  thine  iniquity  ”f 

We  next  called  at  the  house  of  the  chief  Rabbi,  where 
they  were  beginning  to  erect  a  booth  for  the  Feast  of 
Tabernacles.  The  rabbi  was  a  fine-looking  man.  out 
not  learned.  He  seemed  fatigued  with  the  hard  services 
of  the  preceding  day.  We  explained  our  object  in  gen- 

*  Hos.  ii.  7.  +  H°s  xiv  1. 


416 


JASSY — JEWISH  MARRIAGE. 


eral  terms,  deploring  the  ignorance  which  we  had  seen 
among  the  Jews,  and  urging  the  need  of  schools,  where 
they  might  be  taught  to  read  the  Word  of  God  gram¬ 
matically.  He  assented,  and  professed  to  desire  the  im¬ 
provement  of  his  people,  but  said  that  we  should  apply 
to  influential  men,  such  as  the  merchants,  who  must 
exert  themselves  if  these  objects  were  ever  to  be  effect¬ 
ed.  While  we  were  with  him,  a  young  woman  came  in 
with  some  friends,  seeking  a  divorce  from  her  husband ; 
— for  this  is  as  common  among  the  Jews  as  among  the 
Greeks.  In  the  shop  of  the  principal  Jewish  bookseller, 
we  found  prayer-books,  commentaries,  and  portions  of 
the  Talmud,  but  nothing  very  interesting. 

We  were  invited  in  the  evening  to  a  Jewish  marriage. 
We  went  at  the  hour,  but  a  long  delay  occurred,  for  the 
bridegroom  not  having  brought  a  string  of  diamonds  for 
his  bride’s  head-dress — an  ornament  much  valued  here — 
she  and  her  friends  refused  to  let  the  ceremony  proceed 
till  it  was  purchased.  “Can  a  maid  forget  her  orna¬ 
ments,  or  a  bride  her  attire  1”*  is  a  natural  question  in 
Israel  at  this  day.  As  we  were  walking  to  and  fro  be¬ 
fore  the  door,  Mr.  Caiman  spoke  with  a  tall  Jew  upon 
the  evils  of  the  Talmud.  He  seemed  to  be  much  con¬ 
vinced,  and  said,  “  Well,  I  see  that  we  are  a  people  with¬ 
out  a  religion.  But  what  shall  we  do  !  shall  we  become 
Christians  like  the  Greeks,  who  have  not  the  Word  of 
God!” 

Returning  to  the  house  some  hours  after,  we  found 
that  the  marriage  ceremony  had  been  concluded,  and 
that  the  company  were  now  seated  at  the  marriage-feast. 
From  Mr.  Caiman  we  received  an  account  of  the  previ¬ 
ous  part  of  the  ceremony.  Early  on  the  marriage  day 
the  Bathan  (jura),  or  poet,  who  performs  a  very  promi¬ 
nent  part,  comes  to  the  bride’s  house,  and  addresses  her 
most  solemnly  upon  her  sins,  urging  her  to  cry  for  for¬ 
giveness  ; — for  marriage  is  looked  upon  as  an  ordinance 
by  which  sins  are  forgiven,  just  as  the  day  of  atonement, 
pilgrimages,  and  the  like ;  and  the  Jews  believe  that  it 
will  be  destined  that  day  whether  her  luck  is  to  be  good 
or  not.  She  and  her  attendant  maidens  are  often  bathed 
in  tears  during  this  address,  which  sometimes  lasts  two 
hours.  The  Bathan  next  goes  to  the  bridegroom,  and 
exhorts  him  in  the  same  manner.  This  done,  the  bride¬ 
groom  puts  on  the  same  white  dress  which  he  wears  on 
the  day  of  atonement,  and  spends  some  time  in  prayer 

*  Jer.  ii.  32. 


MARRIAGE  CEREMONY — MUSIC — SUPPER. 


417 


and  confession  of  sins,  using  the  same  prayers  as  on  that 
solemn  day.  He  is  then  led  to  the  synagogue,  accompa¬ 
nied  by  a  band  of  music.  The  band  next  goes  ftom  him 
to  accompany  the  bride.  The  parties  are  placed  near 
each  other,  and  the  marriage  canopy  on  four  poles  is 
held  over  them.  The  contract  is  read,  and  the  sum 
named  which  the  husband  promises  to  give  the  woman 
in  case  of  divorce.  The  fathers  and  mothers,  friends  of 
the  bridegroom,  and  the  bridesmaids,  take  the  bride  by 
the  hand,  and  all  go  round  the  bridegroom,  in  obedience 
to  the  words  “  a  woman  shall  compass  a  man.”  *  A  cup 
of  wine  is  produced,  and  seven  blessings  pronounced 
over  it.  The  bridegroom  puts  the  marriage-ring  upon 
the  bride’s  finger,  saying,  “  Behold,  thou  art  consecrated 
to  me  with  this  ring,  according  to  the  law  of  Moses  and 
Israel.”  Other  seven  blessings  are  pronounced  over  the 
wine :  after  which  they  taste  it, 
and  the  glass  is  thrown  down  and 
broken,  to  signify  that  even  in  their 
joy  they  are  no  better  than  a  bro¬ 
ken  sherd.  They  are  then  led  to¬ 
gether  to  the  bride’s  house,  where 
we  found  them  sitting  at  the  head 
of  the  table  in  silence.  The  bride 
had  her  face  veiled  down  nearly  to 
the  mouth  with  a  handkerchief 
which  she  wears  during  the  whole 
ceremony.  Her  dress,  and  that  of 
most  of  her  companions,  was  pure 

The  table  was  filled  with  guests,  the  men  being  seated 
on  one  side,  and  the  women  on  the  other.  Before  eating, 
all  wash  their  hands  out  of  a  dish  with  two  handles,!  so 
formed  that  the  one  hand  may  not  defile  the  other. 

It  was  singular  to  see  this  feast  of  bearded  men,  the 
faces  of  many  of  whom  might  have  been  studies  for  a 
painter.  The  feast  at  the  marriage  of  Cana  of  Galilee 
was  vividly  presented  to  our  minds.  During  the  repast 
the  music  struck  up;  several  Jews  played  well  on  the 
violin,  violoncello,  cymbals,  tambourine,  and  a  harp  of  a 
singular  shape,  which  they  said  was  Jewish,  not  Chris¬ 
tian.  It  was  played  by  beating  upon  the  strings  with 
two  wooden  instruments*  nnd  the  effect  wus  pieusing* 
It  is  remarkable  that,  beyond  the  bounds  of  their  own 


*  Jer.  xxxi.  22. 


t  Rev.  xix.  7,  8 

37  * 


t  Mark  viii-  3. 


418  JASSY — CONVERSATION  WITH  JEWS. 

land,  Israel  should  have  so  many  instruments  of  music, 
while  in  Palestine,  as  the  prophet  foretold,  “  The  joy  of 
the  harp  ceaseth”  The  Bathan ,  or  chanter,  frequently 
interrupted  the  music,  and  excited  the  mirth  and  good 
humour  of  the  company  by  his  impromptu  German 
verses  on  the  new  married  pair  and  their  friends. 

We  were  not  invited  to  sit  at  table, — for  had  we  Gen¬ 
tiles  touched  their  food  it  would  have  been  unclean, — but 
dishes  were  handed  to  us  where  we  sat.  Several  times 
a  plate  went  round  the  company  for  collections;  the  first 
time  it  was  “  for  the  cook,”  and  this  they  called  “  the 
golden  soup;”  the  next  time  was,  “for  Jerusalem;”  and 
a  third  time  “  for  the  new  married  couple  ” — a  present 
for  the  entertainment  given  to  the  company.  The  bride¬ 
groom  should  have  preached  a  sermon  to  the  company, 
but  he  being  unlearned,  the  chanter  did  it  for  him.  After 
supper  there  was  a  dance,  but  not  after  the  manner  of 
the  Gentiles.  Some  little  girls  first  danced  together ;  the 
uncle,  a  tall  handsome  bearded  Jew,  then  danced  alone ; 
last  of  all  he  danced  with  the  bride,  leading  her  round 
and  round  by  a  handkerchief.  This  forms  the  conclu¬ 
ding  part  of  the  ceremony  enjoined  by  the  Talmud. 
Wine  flowed  plentifully  as  at  Cana ;  but,  being  the  simple 
wine  of  the  country,  not  the  slightest  riot  or  extrava¬ 
gance  was  visible.  When  shall  that  marriage-day  come 
of  which  the  prophet  speaks,  “  As  the  bridegroom  re- 
joiceth  over  the  bride,  so  shall  thy  God  rejoice  over 
thee  1” * 

On  our  way  home  we  heard  a  party  of  poor  Zingans 
playing  and  singing  for  the  amusement  of  some  company 
in  an  inn.  The  convent  bells  were  ringing,  for  the  next 
day  was  a  Greek  festival. 

(Sept.  20.)  Our  last  day  in  Jassy  was  mostly  spent  in 
conversation  with  the  many  Jews  who  came  to  visit  us. 
None  seemed  to  be  under  real  soul  concern,  but  all  had 
an  open  ear  for  our  statements  of  the  truth.  They  told 
us  that  most  of  their  brethren  here  have  little  higher 
motive  for  adhering  to  Judaism  than  temporal  advantage, 
such  as  the  expectation  of  money  from  some  relative 
when  he  dies.  We  discussed  many  passages  together, 
and  they  appeared  interested  and  anxious, "though  very 
ignorant.  After  breakfast  two  Jews  came  in,  one,  a  very 
intelligent  man,  named  Leb  Keri,  an  avocat  in  the  town, 
connected  with  the  courts  of  law.  His  special  object  in 
coming  was  to  request  a  New  Testament  in  Hebrew. 

*  Isa.  Lxii.  5. 


DEPARTURE  FROM  JASSY — BOTOUCHANY.  419 

When  we  presented  him  with  a  copy,  he  said  that  he  had 
long  wished  for  one,  and  on  getting  some  Hebrew  tracts 
also,  he  refused  to  part  with  them  to  any  other,  “  Be¬ 
cause,”  said  he,  “  I  have  need  of  them  all  in  discussions 
with  friends  on  these  subjects.”  He  had  read  Volney’s 
Ruins  of  Empires.  Several  other  Jews  called ;  and  there 
were  eight  in  the  room  at  once.  Their  ignorance  of 
Scripture  was  such,  that  the  commonest  Hebrew  words 
often  puzzled  them.  Mr.  Bonar  read  over  Luke  xv.  in 
German  with  one  who  sat  by  him,  the  same  who  used  to 
be  our  guide  through  the  town.  On  the  other  side  of 
the  table  sat  another,  an  elderly  man,  with  his  broad- 
brimmed  hat  resting  on  the  top  of  his  staff,  while  another 
stood  behind  his  chair,  listening  to  all  the  remarks.  Mr. 
Caiman  was,  at  the  same  time,  in  full  discussion  with  an 
old  Jew,  wearing  a  white-flowing  beard;  whilst  two 
others  sat  at  another  part  of  the  table,  perusing  portions 
of  the  New  Testament,  and  examining  the  Hebrew  tracts. 
Two  more  moved  about  from  one  group  to  another, 
listening,  and  sometimes  putting  questions.  One  of  them, 
on  being  asked  to  say  who  was  meant  by  “  the  man  that 
is  a  hiding  place,”*  said,  “that  he  must  consult  his 
commentators.”  Another  spoke  of  our  believing  Christ 
to  be  the  Son  of  God,  and  said,  “It  is  impossible.” 
A  third  fixed  on  the  passage,  1  Cor.  vii.  28,  as  teaching 
immorality,  grounding  his  argument  entirely  on  the  word 
Sjd,  which  is  used  in  some  editions  of  the  translation,  and 
which  the  modern  Jews  always  employ  in  a  bad  sense. 
A  boy  belonging  to  the  hotel,  seemed  considerably  inter¬ 
ested  in  the  visits  of  these  Jews,  and  at  last  told  us  that 
he  was  himself  a  baptized  Jew.  He  had  lived  for  some 
time  in  a  Greek  convent,  along  with  five  other  converts, 
to  get  instruction,  but  both  he  and  his  companions  were 
disgusted  with  the  superstition  and  behaviour  of  the 
monks. 

This  was  an  interesting  day.  In  the  evening,  we  bade 
adieu  to  the  Consul,  and  setting  off  at  nine  o’clock,  left 
Jassy  far  behind. 

When  we  woke  up  in  the  morning  (Sept.  21),  we  were 
passing  through  a  fine  wooded  valley,  adorned  with  plea¬ 
sant  villages.  On  the  left  stood  a  romantic-looking 
church;  and  at  a  row  of  houses  by  the  road-side,  we 
heard  the  voice  of  Jews  at  prayer,  proceeding  from  a 
small  synagogue,  consisting  of  about  ten  persons.  Over 


*  Isa.  xxxii.  2. 


420 


BOTOUCHANY — TESHAWITZ. 


a  vast  plain  we  obtained  a  distant  view  of  Botouchany, 
with  its  many  glittering  spires.  Near  the  entrance  stood 
a  large  cross,  with  a  full-length  figure  of  the  Saviour 
wearing  the  crown  of  thorns.  We  arrived  about  eleven 
o’clock  a.  m.,  and  by  the  advice  of  the  English  Vice- 
Consul,  Signore  Scotto,  who  greatly  assisted  us,  we  de¬ 
termined  to  take  horses  direct  from  this  place  to  a  village 
three  hours  distant,  called  Teshawitz,  on  the  Moldavian 
border,  opposite  the  Austrian  quarantine  station.  We 
called  at  the  house  of  a  Jew,  whom  we  found  willing  to 
lend  us  horses  though  it  was  their  Sabbath.  He  could 
not  send  a  Jewish  servant  with  them;  nor  would  he 
either  name  the  hire,  or  take  it,  yet  he  engaged  a  Gentile 
to  go  with  us  and  to  be  his  proxy.  He  forgot  the  words, 
“  nor  thy  cattle ,  nor  the  stranger  that  is  ivithin  thy 
gates.”  This,  however,  is  the  genuine  result  of  the  hypo¬ 
crisy  taught  by  the  Talmud.  Over  the  door  of  his  house 
we  noticed  a  framed  ornament,  with  the  single  word 
m?D  (mizrach),  “  The  East,”  in  large  characters,  point¬ 
ing  out  the  direction  in  which  Jerusalem  lies. 

Botouchany  is  a  peculiarly  clean  town,  containing 
20,000  inhabitants,  and  having  eleven  Greek  churches. 
It  extends  over  a  great  space,  and  there  are  gardens  and 
trees  interposed,  which  give  it  a  cheerful  aspect.  There 
are  from  four  to  five  thousand  Jews  in  it.  We  saw  great 
numbers  in  their  best  attire,  and  they  appeared  far  more 
cleanly  and  comfortable  than  those  of  Jassy  or  Bucharest. 
Their  houses  also  were  clean  and  whitewashed,  with  a 
small  verandah  before  the  windows.  The  Consul  said 
that  they  have  sixteen  synagogues ;  but  we  neglected  to 
make  inquiry  at  the  Jews  themselves. 

We  enjoyed  a  pleasant  evening  ride,  and  found  that 
three  Jewish  horses  were  equal  to  eight  Gentile  ones. 
Our  road  lay  sometimes  through  deep  shady  woods,  and 
sometimes  through  open  meadow  land.  Many  herds  of 
swine  were  feeding  in  the  fields.  It  was  rather  a  hilly 
region ;  but  beneath  us  was  a  fine  plain,  beyond  which 
rose  the  distant  Carpathian  Mountains  in  the  west.  At 
one  point  we  drove  through  a  long  avenue  of  densely 
planted  willow-trees,  till  we  came  to  the  margin  of  a 
broad  stream,  which  we  forded.  We  then  descended 
through  a  grove  of  pleasant  trees  upon  the  small  village 
of  Teshawitz. 

The  sun  was  setting  upon  the  peaceful  scene,  and  it 
was  too  late  to  admit  of  our  crossing  the  river  Soutchava, 


JEWISH  INNKEEPER — INNKEEPER’S  FAMILY.  421 

which  here  forms  the  Austrian  frontier,  and  getting  into 
quarantine.  We  therefore  took  up  our  lodging  for  the 
night  in  a  small  inn  not  far  from  the  river-side,  kept  by 
a  Jew,  named  Baruch  Ben-Roze;  who  had  erected  a 
booth  before  his  door  of  the  willows  that  grow  by  the 
river-side,  the  next  evening  being  the  beginning  of  the 
Feast  of  Tabernacles,  (hod,  succoth).  He  afterwards 
showed  us  his  palm  branch,  called  lulab ,  and  his  fine 
fruit  called  ezrach ,  (min*),  supposed  to  be  the  “fruit  of 
a  goodly  tree,”  spoken  of  in  the  law.f  It  is  a  fruit  like  a 
lemon,  and  grows  to  maturity  only  once  in  three  years. 
It  is  brought  from  Italy  and  from  the  Holy  Land,  and 
sometimes  more  than  a  hundred  dollars  are  paid  to  ob¬ 
tain  one  for  the  feast.  This  man  paid  four  rubles  for  his, 
a  sum  equal  to  1 1.  sterling.  The  Karaites  are  not  so 
particular;  they  use  an  orange,  or  any  fine  fruit.  The 
man  had  also  slips  of  myrtle}  wrapped  in  the  leaf  of  the 
palm.  When  we  entered  his  house,  the  Jewish  Sabbath 
was  coming  to  a  close.  As  soon  as  it  was  over,  the 
father  of  the  family  began  to  bless  the  lights, — all  which 
are  extinguished  on  the  Sabbath,  as  the  Jews  are  not 
allowed  to  kindle  a  fire,  or  even  to  mend  it  on  that  day ; 
and  so,  when  the  Sabbath  is  done,  they  light  their  candle 
and  fire  anew,  and  bless  God  for  it.  This  Jew  blessed 
also  the  incense  and  the  drink  which  was  to  be  used, 
praying  over  them  all.  The  reason  for  blessing  the  in¬ 
cense  is  to  be  found  in  the  ancient  custom  of  using  in¬ 
cense  at  the  third  meal  on  the  Sabbaths.  In  blessing 
the  lights,  he  poured  out  some  rakee  on  the  table,  and 
set  it  on  fire ;  then  dipped  his  finger  in  it,  and  waved  the 
flaming  liquid  over  his  face.  This  is  done  to  show  that 
“  the  commandment  of  the  Lord  is  pure,  giving  light  to 
the  eyes.” 

After  we  had  got  some  refreshment,  the  family  were 
full  of  curiosity  to  see  the  strangers,  especially  on  hear¬ 
ing  that  we  had  seen  Jerusalem.  The  father,  mother,  an 
old  aunt,  two  boys,  and  a  little  girl,  soon  gathered  round 
us.  The  father  (our  host)  talked  freely.  He  hoped,  he 
said,  soon  to  be  at  Jerusalem  himself.  The  mother  asked 
if  we  had  seen  the  remains  of  the  old  Temple  wall'!  We 
described  to  her  what  we  had  seen ;  and  then  took  out  a 
plan  of  Jerusalem,  and  pointed  out  to  the  boy  the  various 
interesting  places  in  and  about  the  city  which  we  had 


*  Ps.  xxxvii.  35. 


i  Lev.  xxiii.  40. 


t  Neh.  viii.  15 


422 


TESHAWITZ — INNKEEPER’S  FAMILY. 


visited;  and  showed  them  some  of  the  sketches  we  had 
taken.  One  of  them  was  very  ready  in  showing  his  ac¬ 
quaintance  with  Jewish  history;  and  both  became  more 
and  more  free  with  us,  wondering  much  at  our  interest 
in  the  Jews.  “Do  you  wear  Tepfiillin ?”  asked  one. 
‘How  many  commandments  do  you  keep?”  said  an¬ 
other.  Our  answer  was,  “  The  commandments  which 
you  as  well  as  we  ought  to  keep  are  two,  ‘  Thou  shalt 
serve  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart ;’  and,  ‘  Thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself.’  ”  The  boy,  who 
had  showed  considerable  knowledge  of  Jewish  history, 
then  asked,  “  Why  we  travelled  on  Sabbath  ?”  for  they 
weie  still  persuaded  that  we  were  Jews.  "W^e  told  him 
we  were  to  keep  our  own  Sabbath  next  day.  But  he, 
still  believing  that  we  were  brethren,  said,  “  They  have 
not  broken  our  Sabbath ;  they  did  not  work  to-day ;  a 
Gentile  drove  their  carriage,  and  had  any  thing  been 
broken  he  would  have  mended  it.”  The  mother  then 
put  in  a  word,  asking  if  we  had  heard  a  prediction  which 
some  Jew  told  them  was  uttered  at  Jerusalem,  that,  next 
year,  m  the  month  of  March,  a  great  cloud  was  to  burst 
and  pour  out  a  flood  that  would  drown  the  world  ?  We 
said  that  we  had  not  heard  it,  and  that  it  must  be  false ; 
tor  God  promised  to  Noah  never  to  drown  the  world  any 
more  by  a  flood.  “  But,”  said  she,  “  after  the  cloud  has 
done  this,  the  earth  is  to  be  restored  again.”  We  open¬ 
ed  the  Hebrew  Bible  at  the  passage  In  Daniel,  where 
Messiah  is  described  as  “coming  with  the  clouds  of  hea¬ 
ven;  and  showed  it  to  the  father,  who  read  it,  and  said, 

1  erhaps  that  was  the  source  of  the  prediction.”  The 
little  girl,  whose  name  was  Esther,  stood  near  Mr.  Bo- 
nai,  behind  the  rest.  Speaking  of  her  name,  as  the  name 
of  a  Jewish  queen,  he  asked  her  if  she  knew  much  of 
the  Bible?  She  said  that  her  mother  had  taught  her  all 
she  knew,  for  she  had  not  read  the  Bible  herself.  “I 
know  about  Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  Joseph.”  He  asked 
her  to  go  on,  but  she  said,  “  I  do  not  know  more.” 
He  asked  her  what  she  knew  about  God?  “God” 
said  the  little  girl,  “  is  better  than  all ;  better  than  fa¬ 
ther  or  mother,  a  hundred,  hundred  times.  And  if  I 
were  ill,  my  father  or  mother  cannot  help  me,  but 
God  can.  We  told  her  that  she  ought  to  love  Him  in- 
deed ;  for  He  had  so  loved  us  as  to  send  his  Son  to  save 

^uWe,?sk£d’  ?  Where  is  God-”  She  pointed  upwards, 

1  here.  “  But  is  he  nowhere  else  ?”  She  pointed  round 


INTERESTING  CONVERSATION, 


423 


the  room.  “  Yes,  here ;”  and  then  added,  “  In  my  heart, 
too,  and  everywhere.”  We  asked  her  if  she  knew  that 
she  was  a  sinner!  She  said,  “/  have  no  sin”  Her 
mother  taught  her  this,  on  the  ground  of  her  being  a 
daughter  of  Abraham.  We  spoke  to  her  of  what  the 
Bible  declared  regarding  her  sin  and  danger.  No  wonder 
Jewish  females  are  “  at  ease ”  and  “ careless  ones,”*  when 
they  are  taught  to  believe  that  they  have  no  sin !  On 
getting  from  us  a  shell  from  the  Lake  of  Galilee,  she  ex¬ 
pressed  great  delight,  and  said  that  she  would  wear  it 
round  her  neck.  The  father  then  brought  out  a  collec¬ 
tion-box,  which  he  kept  in  his  own  house,  for  the  Jews 
in  Palestine ;  and  another  for  a  particular  rabbi,  a  friend, 
who  had  gone  there.  He  next  shewed  us  a  lump  of 
earth,  which  he  had  brought  from  a  rabbi’s  grave, — a 
rabbi  to  whom  he  used  to  go  to  get  absolution,  and  whom 
he  greatly  loved.  The  mother  asked  us  if  we  could  tell 
any  thing  about  the  rabbi  in  Russia  whom  the  Emperor 
had  imprisoned,  and  wondered  why  he  had  been  im¬ 
prisoned.  “  It  cannot  be  for  his  own  sins,  for  he  had 
none ;  it  must  be  for  the  sins  of  the  people  of  Israel.” 
How  strange  the  ideas  that  float  in  the  minds  of  the  peo¬ 
ple  of  Israel !  Their  knowledge  consists  of  fragments 
of  truth,  and  these  all  tinctured  by  superstition.  They 
own  the  principle  of  substitution,  and  yet  apply  it  wrong, 
— they  apply  it  to  a  rabbi ;  forgetting  the  Psalm  where  it 
is  said,  “ None  of  them  can  by  any  means  redeem  his  bro¬ 
ther,  or  give  to  God  a  ransom  for  him.”}  The  boy  won¬ 
dered  why  God  punished  the  devil  for  doing  evil,  since 
(according  to  the  Jewish  belief)  he  made  the  devil  as  he 
is.  We  shewed  him  that  his  opinion  was  erroneous;  for 
God  created  him  a  holy  angel.  But  the  boy  persisted  in 
his  own  view;  and  with  true  rabbinical  acumen  said, 
“  He  supposed  that  God  punished  the  devil  for  being  a 
hypocrite ,  for  the  devil  never  tempts  any  one  to  sin  di¬ 
rectly,  but  always  says, ‘You  will  get  this  or  that  by 
doing  what  I  propose.’  ”  The  father  told  us  that  he  had 
been^  in  great  doubts  about  continuing  to  be  an  inn¬ 
keeper,  as  it  often  interfered  with  his  observance  of  the 
Sabbath;  but  his  rabbi,  whom  he  consulted,  told  him 
not  to  give  it  up ;  for  if  he  was  in  danger  of  sinning  in 
that  way,  he  made  up  for  the  sin  by  helping  poor  Jews 
across  the  frontier,  and  assisting  them  when  they  did 
not  know  the  Russian  and  Wallachian  languages. 


*  Isa.  xxxii.  11. 


t  Ps.  xlix.  7. 


424 


MOLDAVIA  AND  WALLACHIA  AS 


Jesuitical  casuistry  is  as  much  a  feature  of  Judaism  as 
of  Popery !  Both  systems  have  one  author,  and  are  per¬ 
vaded  by  the  same  spirit  of  deceit.  After  we  had  sepa¬ 
rated  for  the  night,  the  Jew  overhearing  us  singing  the 
psalm  together  at  our  evening  worship,  asked  Mr.  Cai¬ 
man  what  we  had  been  doing.  On  being  told  that  we 
were  worshipping  God  together  before  retiring  to  rest,  he 
was  greatly  surprised. 

(Sept.  22.)  We  spent  the  Sabbath  forenoon  in  a  calm, 
retired  spot  by  the  river  Soutchava,  which  flows  in  front 
of  the  house,  among  alders  and  willows,  which  grow  on 
either  bank.  Herds  of  cattle  were  feeding  not  far  off, 
and  two  or  three  whitewashed  cottages  looked  down  on 
us  from  the  opposite  side.  An  Austrian  soldier  on  guard, 
pacing  to  and  fro  upon  the  northern  bank,  was  the  only 
human  being  in  view. 

Towards  evening,  finding  that  there  was  no  rest  for 
us  in  the  inn,  we  resolved  to  pass  the  river  and  enter  into 
the  quarantine.  Accordingly,  we  crossed  at  the  ford, 
entered  the  Austrian  frontier,  and,  under  the  guard  of  a 
soldier,  were  in  half  an  hour  lodged  in  the  quarantine 
station  called  Bossanze.  We  passed  a  neat  wooden 
church,  with  its  ornamented  crosses,  but  could  see  no 
marks  of  the  day  of  rest :  we  spent  the  evening,  how¬ 
ever,  in  quietness  and  peace,  and  tried  to  sing  the  Lord’s 
song  in  a  strange  land.  We  had  now  entered  another 
of  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  where  Satan  has  his  seat, 
till  the  time  when  it  shall  become  the  kingdom  of  our 
God  and  of  his  Christ. 

And  now  looking  back  over  these  two  provinces  of 
Moldavia  and  Wallachia,  it  is  impossible  not  to  feel  their 
vast  importance  and  inviting  aspect  as  the  scene  of  a 
Jewish  Mission. 

I.  The  number  of  resident  Jews  is  very  great.  In  the 
two  capitals  there  are  probably  from  25,000  to  30,000, 
and  perhaps  as  many  more  in  the  other  towns.  So  that 
there  is  a  very  extensive  field  for  the  labours  of  a  mis¬ 
sionary. 

II.  But  further,  the  fields  are  also  “  white  unto  the 
harvest.”  The  Jews  are  in  a  most  interesting  state  of 
mind.  The  greater  part  of  them  are  very  ignorant. 
We  learned  that  among  the  many  thousands  of  Jassy, 
there  were  only  a  few  who  could  understand  Hebrew 
grammatically,  and  in  their  schools  we  have  seen  that 
even  the  teachers  could  not  translate  the  prayers  in  the 


MISSIONARY  FIELDS. 


425 


£febrew  prayer-book.  In  this  state  of  things  the  Secret 
Society  of  Galicia  above  noticed,  whose  object  is  to  un¬ 
dermine  the  authority  of  the  Talmud  and  the  whole  fab¬ 
ric  of  superstitious  Judaism,  are  casting  their  firebrands 
among  the  young  Jews  of  these  provinces.  Many  have 
had  their  confidence  in  the  Talmud  completely  shaken, 
and  are  standing  in  this  critical  situation,  that  they  are 
ripe  either  for  the  teacher  of  infidelity  or  for  the  messen¬ 
ger  of  the  gospel.  Surely,  then,  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
Christian  Church  to  step  in  and  offer  them  the  truth  as 
it  is  in  Jesus,  in  the  room  of  their  old  superstition,  of 
which  so  many  are  weary. 

III.  There  is  reason  to  hope  that  the  Jewish  Missionary 
may  carry  on  his  work  without  hinderance.  There  is  a 
British  Consul-General  in  each  of  the  capitals,  and  Vice- 
Consuls  in  the  most  important  towns,  who  would  protect 
and  countenance  a  missionary  from  our  Church.  If  a 
conscientious  missionary  felt  it  to  be  consistent  with  duty 
to  refrain  from  any  direct  attempt  at  the  conversion  of 
the  Greek  population,  and  to  spend  all  his  energies  in 
seeking  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel,  it  seems 
probable  that  his  labours  would  not  be  interrupted  by 
the  government.  In  the  happy  event  of  the  light  begin¬ 
ning  to  spread  indirectly  from  the  Jews  to  the  natives, 
the  eager  jealousy  of  the  priesthood  would  doubtless  be 
awakened,  and  persecution  might  be  expected.  But 
these  are  dangers  attending  the  success  of  the  gospel  in 
every  country,  and  in  every  age ;  the  cause  of  a  triumph¬ 
ant  gospel  has  ever  been  through  much  tribulation;  and 
it  is  our  part  to  move  forward  in  the  path  of  duty,  leaving 
future  events  in  the  hand  of  God.  Vast  and  ripe  unto 
harvest  as  these  fields  are,  at  the  date  of  our  visit  no 
reaper  had  ever  put  in  his  sickle.  The  Prince  of  Molda¬ 
via  needed  to  ask  what  our  object  was  in  traversing  his 
dominions,  for  no  missionary  had  ever  carried  there  the 
words  of  eternal  life.*  And  many  of  the  Jews  would 
not  believe  that  we  were  really  Christians,  because  they 
had  never  before  seen  a  Christian  ivlio  loved  the  Jeivs. 

IV.  Another  point  of  great  importance  is,  that  it  is  be¬ 
lieved  that  inquirers  and  converts  could  support  them¬ 
selves.  Every  Jew  who  arrives  in  these  provinces  is 
obliged  to  bring  with  him  a  certificate  that  he  is  able  to 

*  A  labourer  from  the  London  Society  has  lately  been  stationed  at 
Bucharest ;  and  the  Rev.  Daniel  Edward,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Her¬ 
mann  Philip,  a  converted  Jew,  has  been  sent  out  by  our  Church,  and 
stationed  at  Jassy. 


38 


426 


MOLDAVIA  AND  WALLACHIA,  <XC. 


earn  a  livelihood  by  some  trade.  We  have  seen  that  all 
the  necessaries  of  life  are  remarkably  cheap,  and  that 
the  resources  of  commerce  are  far  from  being  fully  occu¬ 
pied,  so  that  an  anxious  Jew  might  easily  support  him¬ 
self  even  when  cast  off  by  his  brethren  in  the  flesh. 
Workmen  are  employed  irrespectively  of  their  creed, 
and  many  Jews,  who  have  been  baptized  into  the  Greek 
Church,  found  no  difference  in  their  means  of  living. 
In  this  way,  one  of  the  greatest  difficulties  experienced 
by  the  Jewish  missionary  in  other  countries  is  removed. 

Y.  Moreover,  these  provinces  border  upon  Austrian 
Poland,  that  land  of  bigotry  and  the  shadow  of  death, 
across  whose  boundary  no  traveller  dares  to  carry,  ex¬ 
cept  by  stealth,  even  an  English  Bible.  If  the  Moldavian 
Jews  received  the  light  of  the  glorious  gospel,  they  might, 
by  means  of  their  constant  intercourse  with  the  people, 
scatter  some  beams  into  that  dark  region  where  the  feet 
of  the  gospel  messenger  cannot  go. 

Here,  then,  are  probably  60,000  Jews,— many  of  them 
sunk  in  ignorance,  many  of  them  relaxing  their  grasp 
of  old  superstitions,  and  not  yet  fallen  into  infidelity,  not 
a  few  shewing  friendly  dispositions  to  such  Christians  as 
have  gone  to  them  in  the  spirit  of  the  gospel  of  peace, 
and  some  eagerly  asking  to  be  shewn  what  the  faith  of 
Jesus  is.  Who  can  deny  that  a  peculiarly  inviting  re¬ 
gion  is  here  set  before  the  Christian  Church— “  an  open 
valley  full  of  bones,  very  many  and  very  dry,”— into 
which  she  may  send  men  of  the  same  spirit  as  Ezekiel, 
who  may  cry,  “  Come  from  the  four  winds,  O  breath,  and 
breathe  upon  these  slain,  that  they  may  live ! 


427 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


AUSTRIAN  POLAND. 

“  Behold,  they  say,  Our  bones  are  dried,  and  our  hope  is  lost ;  we  are 
cut  off  for  our  parts.”— Ezek.  xxxvii.  11. 

The  Austrian  quarantine  at  Bossanze,  in  which  we  were 
to  remain  five  days,  was  pleasant  and  healthy.  It  stands 
on  high  ground,  having  gardens  and  whitewashed  cot¬ 
tages  in  view,  and  looks  down  upon  a  fine  country  called 
Bukovine.  The  town  of  Soutchava  is  about  an  hour 
distant.  A  Hungarian  in  the  quarantine  spoke  Latin 
with  us.  His  pronunciation  differed  little  from  ours,  but 
he  seemed  to  attach  a  peculiar  meaning  to  several  Latin 
words.  Thus,  using  “  dignatur ”  in  the  sense  of  “  is 
named ,”  he  said,  “Hsec  regio  dignatur  Bukovina.”  The 
doctor,  too,  spoke  Latin  with  us,  and  was  very  atten¬ 
tive  to  our  comfort,  after  we  had  undergone  the  process 
of  fumigation.  Indeed,  all  the  attendants  were  lemark- 
ably  civil  and  polite.  Our  books  were  all  examined,  but 
none  taken  from  us. 

This  was  the  third  time  we  had  undergone  quarantine 
since  leaving  Jerusalem,  and  it  was  by  far  the  most 
agreeable.  We  spent  the  five  days  in  making  up  our 
journals,  and  writing  home ;  and  were  glad  also  to  get 
a  little  leisure  for  reading  and  study.  The  doctor  often 
came  in,  ctnd  expressed  his  surprise  ut  our  diligence.  In 
the  evenings  we  always  enjoyed  a  walk  within  the  en¬ 
closures  of  our  wooden  prison.  We  now  also  chalked 
out  our  future  route  as  far  as  we  could  see  before  us. 
We  proposed  to  proceed  by  Czernowitz,*  Tarnapol,  Bro¬ 
dy  Lemberg,  and  so  out  of  Austria  to  Cracow. 

On  the  morning  of  Sept.  27,  we  left  our  quarantine  in 
one  of  the  briscas  or  covered  cars  of  the  country,  and 
soon  reached  the  pleasant  town  of  Soutchava,  with  eight 
glittering  steeples  and  a  castle  in  ruins,  and  a  consider¬ 
able  population  of  Greeks,  Roman  C  atholics,  and  Aime- 


*  Pronounced  Tchernovitz. 


428  LEAVE  QUARANTINE — SOUTCHAVA — JEWS. 

nians.  Its  situation  is  fine,  on  the  high  rugged  bank  of 
a  stream  that  flows  past,  amidst  trees  of  all  varieties. 
The  houses  are  whitewashed,  which  gives  them  a  clean 
appearance,  and  the  tiles  are  all  of  wood.  Half  of  the 
town  is  occupied  by  Armenians,  who  deal  chiefly  in  cat¬ 
tle.  The  Jews  here  deal  much  in  grain,  and  many  of 
them  are  rich  and  respectable.  While  waiting  for  the 
signing  of  our  passports,  we  spoke  to  several  of  them  on 
the  street.  They  told  us  that  there  are  200  families  here, 
and  that  a  school  to  which  they  pointed,  where  German 
and  Latin  are  taught,  was  attended  by  many  Jewish 
children.  They  expect  Messiah  and  their  restoration  to 
their  own  land.  They  asked  if  we  were  Roman  Catho¬ 
lics,  and  on  being  told  that  we  were  not,  and  that  we 
came  from  Britain,  they  asked  if  we  were  Calvinists, 
which  we  at  once  declared  we  were ;  and  then  referring 
to  their  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  and  the  booths  that  were 
before  their  houses,  we  told  them  how  God  tabernacled 
among  men  in  the  flesh  for  us.  When  we  were  entering 
the  carriage,  one  of  them  came  up  and  eagerly  asked, 
“ How  far  we  were  to  travel  that  day]”  The  object  of 
the  question  was  to  ascertain  by  our  answer  whether  or 
not  we  were  really  Christians,  for,  as  we  so  often  found, 
they  were  not  accustomed  to  be  kindly  spoken  to  by 
any  who  were  not  of  their  own  nation.  We  told  them 
how  far  we  were  going,  and  on  ascertaining  that  we 
must  travel  after  six  that  evening,  when  the  Jewish  Sab¬ 
bath  commences,  one  of  them  shook  his  head,  and  said 
to  the  rest,  that  “  we  were  not  Jews.”  We  left  a  Hebrew 
tract  with  them — one  of  the  few  which  we  were  to  have 
it  in  our  power  to  leave  in  the  Austrian  dominions. 

On  leaving  the  town,  our  road  passed  between  fences 
of  basket-work,  curiously  defended  from  the  rain  by 
a  coping  of  the  same.  The  road  was  macadamized,  and 
in  excellent  condition  ;  the  cottages  were  more  comfort¬ 
able  than  those  of  Moldavia,  and  the  aspect  of  the  coun¬ 
try  was  more  civilized.  Plum  and  apple  trees  were 
plentiful  in  the  gardens.  We  saw  several  country 
churches,  somewhat  resembling  the  quiet  parish  churches 
of  Scotland,  and  came  to  a  bridge  of  wood,  covered  over 
like  a  penthouse  from  end  to  end,  the  toll  of  which,  as  is 
the  case  with  most  of  the  tolls  of  that  country,  was  kept 
by  a  Jew.  Jews  are  always  to  be  found  like  Matthew, 
“  sitting  at  the  receipt  of  custom.” 

The  road  after  this  for  three  hours  ran  in  a  straight  line, 
through  a  fine  meadow,  sometimes  rising  gently,  some- 


SERET- — JEWS — SYNAGOGUE. 


429 


times  nearly  a  plain,  with  the  thickly  wooded  range  of 
the  Carpathians  on  our  left  bounding  the  scene.  I  ne 
fields  were  fragrant,  with  beautiful  autumn  crocuses. 
Two  pretty  strangling  villages  situated  on  a  hill-side,  anci 
a  Jewish  inn,  in  front  of  which  . were  booths  for  the  feast, 
were  the  only  objects  of  the  least  interest  foi  seveial 
miles.  We  passed  another  toll  kept  by  a  Jew,  and  were 
reminded  of  home  by  seeing  the  country-people  cutting 
down  a  field  of  oats  with  the  scythe ;  a  little  further  on, 
they  were  gathering  potatoes,  and  there  were  occasion¬ 
ally  fields  of  hops.  „  „  „  .  , 

About  two  o’clock,  we  descended  upon  the  neat  town 
of  Seret,  standing  upon  the  river  of  the  same  name  which 
we  had  crossed  twice  in  Moldavia.  There  are  barracks 
here,  and  we  now  began  to  be  familiar  with  the  blue 
uniform  of  the  Austrian  soldiers,  and  the  dark  green  of 
their  officers,  with  the  ornament  of  the  eagle  spreading 
its  wings  upwards.  In  the  inn  where  we  rested,  many 
were  coming  and  going,  and  we  had  a  painful  vie w  of 
the  immoral  state  of  the  people.  When  they  heaid  that 
we  were  English,  they  said,  “  Ah,  they  have  the  same 
noses  and  eyes  that  we  have  !”  Many  were  intoxicated ; 
and  one  old  man  came  up  to  us,  and  made  a  long  apology, 
stating  that  the  funeral  of  a  wealthy  resident  had  taken 
place  that  day,  which  had  occasioned  the  revelry,  and 
hoping  that  we  would  not  carry  away  an  unfavourable 
report,  as  if  Austrians  were  generally  given  to  this  vice. 

On  entering  the  town,  we  had  met  many  Jews  m  their 
best  dress  and  holiday  fur-cap,  and  observed  a  company 
of  them  dancing  at  a  public-house.  We  now  engaged 
in  conversation  with  two  of  them,  and  one  young  man 
became  very  communicative,  kindly  consenting  to  be 
our  guide  through  the  town.  There  are  300  families  of 
Jews  residing  here,  and  they  have  two  synagogues,  and 
three  places  of  study  or  Beth-midrash The  laigest 
svnago^ue,  a  building  of  considerable  size,  was  shut; 
but  we° entered  the  other,  and  there  two  young  men 
began  an  interesting  conversation.  They  asked  if  we 
were  Jews;  we  said,  No,  we  were  Christians.  They 
renlied  “  Perhaps  you  are  Jews  also,  and  shook  hands 
smilino'.  The  Jews  here  expected  Messiah  that  year, 
or  else^some  great  event.  They  told  us  of  a  remarkable 
rabbi,  Haiim,  at  Chosow,  eight  miles  distant,  to  whom 
many  thousands  of  Jews  go  in  pilgrimage  at  the  time  of 
the  Feast  of  Tabernacles.  They  enjoy  more  liberty  in 

38* 


430 


SERET-—CONVERSATION  WITH  JEWS. 


Bukovine  than  in  Galicia ;  for  in  the  latter  province  there 
is  a  tax  on  lights,  which  becomes  very  severe  on  the 
Jews  who  use  so  many  candles  on  the  Sabbath.  On  ask¬ 
ing  if  there  was  much  infidelity  here,  they  told  us  that 
all  were  1  almudists,  except  three  Epicuruses— probably 
members  of  the  Tarnapol  Society.  In  the  synagogue 
where  we  were  standing  were  several  copies  both  of  the 
lalmud  and  Mishna,  but  only  a  few  fragments  of  the 
Hebrew  Bible  were  to  be  found  in  the  library.  The 
young  men  scarcely  knew  a  word  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
when  Mr.  Caiman  showed  them  what  a  different  spirit 
breathed  in  the  Bible  from  that  of  the  Talmud,  they  de¬ 
fended  the  Talmud  and  the  rabbis.  One  singular  de¬ 
fence  of  their  rabbis  was  taken  from  Deuteronomy, 
“  And  thou  shalt  love  also  the  Lord  thy  God,”  &c.*  For 
they  argued  that  nx  (eth)  meant  “  also ”  in  this  passage. 

And  why  does  it  say  ‘  also  V  Who  else  is  to  be  loved 
with  all  our  heart?  It  must  be  the  rabbis”  Mr.  C. 
showed  them  that  they  were  thus  blasphemously  putting 
the  rabbis  before  God;  pointed  out  to  them  their  igno¬ 
rance  of  the  Hebrew  language  in  regard  to  nx ;  and 
pressed  them  to  study  their  language  grammatically 

01  ls^ue  an  ^nca^cu^able  extent,  that  Talmudism 
would  fall  to  the  ground  if  the  grammatical  Hebrew  was 
understood.  It  would  have  the  same  effect  on  the 
votaries  of  the  Talmud,  that  instruction  in  the  sciences 
has  upon  the  blinded  followers  of  Hindooism.  On  press¬ 
ing  the  young  men  with  the  want  of  sacrifices  among 
the  Jews,  they  urged,  that  repeating  the  passages  where 
sacrifices  are  commanded,  is  as  good  as  sacrifice,  and 
quoted  Hosea  xiv.  2,  “  Take  with  you  words ,  so  shall  we 

fucfu  ^  le  co^ves  °f  our  lips ”  They  did  not  perceive 
that  the  prophet  describes  Israel  as  both  pouring  out  the 
words  of  confession,  and  also  returning  to  the  blood  of 
the  great  sacrifice.  They  listened,  however,  when  we 
opened  Isaiah  liii.  and  spoke  of  Him  by  “  whose  stripes 
Y®, aie  healed,”  but  turned  aside  its  force  by  saying. 
There  is  a  Messiah  who  suffers  for  his  people  in  every 
generation,”  referring  to  such  cases  as  that  of  the  Rus¬ 
sian  rabbi,  of  whom  we  had  heard  as  suffering  imprison¬ 
ment.  When  Mr.  Caiman  told  them  that  he  believed  in 
Jesus  (rwO,  they  did  not  understand  who  or  what  this 
meant.  But  when  he  explained,  and  showed  them  that 
ne  was  “ a  Christian”  they  started  back,  and  with  an 


*  Deut.  vi.  5. 


CZERNOWITZ— JEWS. 


43  i 


air  of  doubt  and  fear  said,  “  And  do  you  still  love  the 
Jews'?”  He  replied,  “Yes,  indeed,  I  love  the  Jews  still 
with  all  my  heart.”  And  thus  we  parted. 

Crossing  the  Seret,  we  continued  our  journey  along  a 
road  straight  as  an  arrow.  The  gentle  hills  on  either 
hand  were  well  wooded,  the  plain  well  cultivated,  and 
the  roads  excellent,  as  they  are  in  all  the  Austrian  do¬ 
minions.  A  full  moon  enlightened  our  way  to  Czerno- 
witz,  which  we  reached  at  ten  o’clock,  and  found  shelter 
for  the  night  in  a  very  tolerable  inn. 

(Sept.  28.)  Czernowitz  is  a  pleasant  town,  with  streets 
wide,  well  aired,  and  clean.  The  houses  are  generally 
two  or  three  stories  high,  and  there  are  barracks  and 
other  public  buildings.  Most  of  the  names  over  the  shops 
were  Polish.  The  market-place  is  a  wide  square,  having 
one  side  lined  with  stalls  or  movable  shops,  like  sentry- 
boxes  ;  and,  in  the  middle,  a  large  cross,  with  a  statue  of 
the  Virgin  sitting  at  the  foot  of  it,  holding  in  her  arms 
the  dead  body  of  the  Saviour,  her  head  adorned  with 
twelve  stars,  and  two  angels  at  her  side.  A  broad  street 
leads  from  the  market-place,  down  a  steep  descent,  from 
the  top  of  which  is  seen  the  river  Pruth  winding  through 
the  plain  below,  with  a  village  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
bank,  called  Satagora,  in  which  many  Jews  reside.  In 
this  street  again  there  is  a  figure  of  the  Saviour  on  the 
Cross,  and  the  Virgin  standing  beneath  it,  with  a  sword 
piercing  her  heart,  in  reference  to  Luke  ii.  35.  The 
situation  of  the  town  is  fine  and  salubrious,  on  the  top 
of  a  considerable  elevation,  looking  down  on  the  neigh¬ 
bouring  river,  and  surrounded  with  fertile  plains  on  all 
sides. 

There  are  3000  Jews  here,  with  eight  synagogues, 
only  three  of  which  are  large.  These  three  we  visited, 
being  all  under  the  roof  of  one  large  edifice.  The  con¬ 
gregation  were  engaged  in  worship  when  we  entered, 
but  seemed  to  have  little  feeling  of  devotion,  for  a  group 
soon  gathered  round  each  of  us  at  different  parts  of  the 
synagogue.  On  saying  to  those  around  us,  “We  have 
been  at  Jerusalem,”  they  were  immediately  interested, 
and  asked,  “Are  the  Jews  there  like  the  Jews  here'?” 
We  said,  “They  were,  but  all  could  speak  Hebrew.’ 
They  said,  “  None  here  can  speak  Hebrew  except  the 
rabbi.”  “  Do  you  expect  ever  to  return  to  your  own 
land!”  “  We  hope  for  that  every  day.”  We  said,  “  We 
Christians  are  looking  for  the  second  coming  of  the  Mes 
siah  every  day.”  They  replied,  “  What  Messiah  1  Is 


432 


DEPARTURE  FROM  CZERNOWITZ. 


it  Messiah  Ben-Josephl”  This  led  us  to  tell  of  the  only 
Saviour,  “who  is  exalted  to  give  repentance  unto  Israel, 
and  remission  of  sins.”  We  told  them  how  Christians 
in  our  land  loved  the  Jews.  Their  reply  was,  “  Here 
they  do  not  love  the  Jews.”  This  took  place  in  the  lar¬ 
gest  synagogue.  In  the  other  two,  which  belonged  to 
the  Chasidim,  the  worshippers  were  much  more  intent 
upon  their  prayers,  and  more  loud  and  vehement  in 
their  cries.  When  we  were  leaving,  one  of  them  came 
after  us  to  ask,  “How  much  of  the  temple-wall  at  Jeru¬ 
salem  was  still  standing,  how  high  and  how  broad  it 
wasl”  The  same  Jew  asked,  if  we  had  seen  Hebron, 
and  if  the  cave  of  Machpelah  was  known  ? 

The  Jews  here  are  very  ignorant.  Their  young  people 
are  not  taught  to  understand  the  Hebrew,  but  only  to 
read  it;  though  many  send  their  children  to  the  public  aca¬ 
demies  where  Latin  and  German  are  taught.  Some  have 
given  up  their  belief  in  the  Talmud  ;  and  many  are  so 
careless  that  they  come  to  the  synagogue  only  on  the 
Day  of  Atonement.  The  Jew  who  acted  as  our  guide 
through  the  town  (for  we  purposely  employed  a  Jew  on 
all  such  occasions),  said,  that  he  believed  the  Old  Testa¬ 
ment  Scriptures,  but  did  not  believe  in  a  Messiah  at  all. 
The  truth  is,  that  many  of  them  are  so  entirely  ignorant 
of  Scripture,  that  they  fancy  the  doctrine  of  a  Messiah 
to  be  one  of  the  traditions  of  their  rabbis,  and  not  a 
promise  of  Moses  and  the  prophets.  The  sight  of  Israel 
in  this  region  cannot  fail  to  sadden  the  heart  of  those  that 
love  them.  “  Behold,  they  say,  Our  bones  are  dried,  our 
hope. is  lost.” 

We  left  the  town  in  the  forenoon,  in  an  excellent  vehi¬ 
cle,  resembling  an  English  hackney-coach  with  springs, 
belonging  to  the  innkeeper,  who  also  furnished  a  man 
and  horses  to  carry  us  to  Tarnapol.  Passing  some 
prisoners  at  work  in  chains,  we  soon  crossed  the  Pruth 
by  a  long  wooden  bridge,  and,  looking  back,  got  a  plea¬ 
sant  view  of  the  town  on  the  height,  surrounded  with 
willows  and  poplars.  The  banks  of  the  river  also  were 
plentifully  clothed  with  willows.  The  fields  were  flat, 
but  appeared  fertile,  many  of  them  clothed  with  the  plant 
called  retskiy,  which  has  a  stalk  of  a  fine  reddish-brown, 
tinging  the  face  of  the  country  in  a  beautiful  manner. 
The  toll-bars  on  the  road  are  all  after  one  pattern,  con¬ 
sisting  of  a  long  beam  stretching  from  side  to  side,  one 
end  of  which  is  made  to  rise  upwards  at  the  approach 
of  a  carriage  by  means  of  a  heavy  weight  at  the  other 


GERTSMAN— ZALESKY. 


433 


extremity.  We  were,  however,  painfully  reminded, 
notwithstanding  all  the  outward  fertility,  that  we  were 
now  in  “a  land  of  graven  images,”  by  the  many  tall 
crosses  and  representations  of  the  Virgin  by  the  way- 
side. 

We  rested  the  horses  at  a  village  called  Gertsman,  sur¬ 
rounded  with  trees,  and  near  a  small  lake.  In  a  large 
grassy  area  which  forms  the  market-place,  stood  a  cross 
with  all  its  accompaniments,  the  nails  and  hammer,  the 
ladder,  the  spear,  and  sponge;  and  near  this,  under  a 
shed,  was  an  image  of  a  saint  holding  the  infant  Jesus  in 
his  arms.  Surely  the  people  of  this  land  have  the  same 
mark  as  the  inhabitants  of  ancient  Babylon,  “  They  are 
mad  upon  their  idols!”*  We  found  only  one  Jewish 
family  here,  and  so  careless  were  they  that  the  boy  with 
whom  we  conversed  had  no  t  sit  sit  /i,  and  scarcely  knew 
what  the  name  of  Messiah  meant. 

After  leaving  this  village  the  country  was  tame  and  un¬ 
interesting,  with  few  trees  to  refresh  the  eye.  Crosses 
and  images,  however,  appeared  every  now  and  then. 
We  saw  also  at  every  village  or  cluster  of  houses,  indi¬ 
cations  of  the  sojourn  of  some  of  the  scattered  sheep  of 
the  house  of  Israel,  in  the  succoth  or  booths  erected  for 
the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  beside  the  cottage-door. 

About  half-past  five,  we  began  to  descend  into  a  glen 
between  two  hills  of  considerable  elevation,  the  sides  of 
which  were  covered  with  brushwood.  As  we  drew  near 
the  mouth  of  this  pass,  the  spires  of  Zalesky,  shining  in 
the  evening  sun,  appeared  through  the  tall  poplars  and 
elms  in  which  the  town  is  embosomed.  Before  reaching 
it,  a  bridge  of  boats  carries  you  across  the  river  Dniester, 
deep  and  rapid,  separating  the  province  of  Bukovine  from 
that  of  Galicia,  which  forms  part  of  Austrian  Poland.  W  e 
rested  in  the  town  for  a  few  hours,  and  found  it  as  plea¬ 
sant  as  it  appeared  to  be  from  a  distance.  The  hills 
through  which  we  had  passed  form  a  high  barrier  on  the 
southroverhanging  the  town.  Their  sides  covered  with 
shaggy  wood,  and  the  impetuous  river  that  sweeps  their 
basefadd  much  to  the  beauty  of  the  scene.  At  the  en¬ 
trance  of  Zalesky,  a  handsome  mansion,  surrounded  with 
pleasant  gardens,  attracts  observation.  The  Jews  told  us 
that  this  is  the  residence  of  a  rich  Galician,  Baron 
Browno witch,  a  Jew  baptized  into  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  His  father  and  brethren  also  have  been  baptized, 


*  Jer.  1.  38. 


434 


ZALESKY — JEWS — JAGLINSKY — SABBATH. 


and  about  twenty  Jews,  all  of  the  wealthier  classes,  have 
followed  their  example.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  worldly 
advancement  formed  the  leading  motives  for  their 
change  ;  and  even  were  the  motive  purer,  what  is  there 
to  comfort  the  heaits  of  those  who  love  Israel  in  conver 
sions  from  Judaism  to  Popery?  The  Baron  is  still  very 
kind  to  his  Jewish  brethren,  and  has  ample  opportunity ; 

for  the  whole  of  this  town,  and  twenty  other  villages,  are 
his  property. 

There  are  3000  Jews  here.  Their  largest  synagogue, 
however,  is  neglected  and  dirty,  and  the  service  was 
gone  over  in  a  hasty  and  irreverent  manner.  We  no¬ 
ticed  here,  what  we  had  seen  in  some  other  places,  sev¬ 
eral  Passover  cakes  (the  Aphikumeii)  hung  up  in  the  syn¬ 
agogue,  as  a  charm  against  fire,  theft,  or  accident.  Here, 
too,  the  Eruv  or  string  is  stretched  from  house  to  house, 
to  make  Zalesky  a  walled  town.  One  of  the  windows 
of  the  synagogue  had  been  glazed  by  the  society  that 
buries  the  dead,  called  ntiunp  man  (habrah  kedoshah) ; 
and  their  name  was  on  the  stained  glass.  Many  of  the 
Jews  to  whom  we  spoke  were  careless  and  worldly,  and 
one  of  them  told  us  of  seven  German  families  who  never 
attend  the  synagogue. 

We  left  this  place  before  it  was  quite  dark,  and  pressed 
on  through  a  fiat  and  dreary  country,  over  which  the 
autumn  wind  swept  cold  and  sharp.  By  half-past  ten  we 
leached  a  pleasant  village,  called  Jaglinsky,  having  a 
good  Polish  inn,  or,  in  the  language  of  the  country, 

“  Hartsmi .”  _  The  inmates  were  all  fast  asleep,  but  after 
much  knocking,  we  found  admission,  and  were  hospita¬ 
bly  entertained  by  the  gospadina,  or  hostess. 

.  (Sept.  29.)  The  Sabbath  dawned  sweetly  upon  this  re¬ 
tired  Polish  village.  It  was  one  of  some  extent,  stretching 
up  the  sides  of  a  deep  hollow.  On  one  of  the  heights 
stood  the  principal  church,  and  on  the  opposite  bank  a  fort 
and  barracks.  Grosses  of  all  kinds  and  sizes  were 
planted  at  every  approach  to  the  village,  and  in  the 
church-yard  every  grave  had  one.  BSTrly  in  the  morn¬ 
ing  all  the  servants  of  our  khan,  clothed  in  their  best  at- 
tiie,  set  off  for  church ;  and  we  followed  after  them,  in 
oi  dei  to  witness  the  service.  On  our  way  we  heard  the 
sound  of  music  proceeding  from  a  cottage,  and  Mr  Cai¬ 
man,  thinking  that  it  was  a  Jewish  marriage,  entered, 
when  two  young  women  immediately  fell  at  his  feet  and 
kissed  his  boots,  thanking  him  for  the  honour  he  had 
none  them  in  entering  their  house.  It  was  a  Chris- 


CHURCH— SUPERSTITIOUS  WORSHIPPERS, 


435 


tian  marriage.  The  church  was  elegantly  fitted  up,  and 
the  walls  were  painted  all  over  with  figures  of  saints  and 
madonnas.  During  the  service  one  poor  woman  came 
in,  and,  with  many  genuflexions,  presented  three  pic¬ 
tures,  one  of  a  madonna,  the  two  others  of  saints.  The 
auaience  was  scanty,  consisting  of  five  or  six  young 
people,  and  a  few  old  men  and  women,  all  kneeling  on 
the  open  floor.  All,  as  they  entered  or  retired,  first  kiss¬ 
ed  an  image  of  the  Saviour  that  stood  in  the  porch,  and 
then  bowed  down  and  kissed  the  cold  floor.  The  sing¬ 
ing  and  organ  were  tolerable,  but  there  was  no  food  for 
the  soul. 

We  then  visited  a  country  church,  in  the  suburbs,  built 
entirely  of  wood.  It  was  crowded  to  the  door,  and  ma¬ 
ny  who  could  not  get  in  had  taken  their  places  by  the 
wall,  kneeling  and  crossing  themselves  as  they  listened 
to  the  service  through  the  seams  of  the  wooden  walls. 
Within  the  church,  the  women  occupied  the  end  nearest 
the  door,  and  the  men,  who  formed  the  greater  propor¬ 
tion,  stood  nearer  the  altar.  All  present  were  plain  rus¬ 
tic  people,  of  uncouth  appearance  and  ungainly  figures ; 
the  men  wearing  a  surtout  of  sheep-skin,  with  the  wool 
turned  inside,  the  women  a  cap  with  a  white  kerchief 
tied  over  it.  Lighted  candles  glared  from  the  altar,  and 
many  of  the  women  held  tapers  in  their  hands.  At  one 
part  of  the  prayer  all  knelt  except  ourselves,  and  then 
rose.  A  plate  went  round  for  collecting  money,  and 
each  gave  something.  Several  pictures,  miserably  exe¬ 
cuted,  hung  upon  the  walls:  among  which  was  one  of 
the  Saviour,  quite  hid  by  the  multitude  of  flowers  that 
had  been  thrown  upon  it  by  the  devout  worshippers,  and 
another  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  decorated  with  strings  of 
beads  suspended  round  it  by  her  grateful  votaries.  But 
the  most  offensive  object  of  all,  was  an  old  diminutive 
figure  of  the  Saviour  on  the  Cross,  standing  near  the 
door.  This  was  kissed  by  most  of  those  who  came  in, 
after  they  had  dipped  their  hands  in  a  vessel  of  holy 
water  that  stood  by.  Some  kissed  it  on  the  feet,  some 
under  the  feet,  some  more  devout  lay  down  and  kissed 
the  floor  beneath  it.  The  sight  of  this  simple  supersti¬ 
tion,  over  which  was  spread  an  air  of  apparent  solem 
nity  on  the  part  of  the  rough  peasants,  was  really  affect¬ 
ing.  We  contrasted  the  realms  of  Popery  with  our  own 
happy  Scotland  ;  and  if  any  thing  could  stir  up  a  Scot¬ 
tish  Presbyterian  to  a  sense  of  the  greatness  of  his  pri¬ 
vileges,  it  is  a  sight  like  this,  where  ignorance  and  super- 


436 


JAGLINSKY — PEASANTRY — SYNAGOGUE. 


stition  are  leading  souls  to  hell,  in  peaceful,  unresisting 
quietness !  The  priest  was  a  respectable-looking  man, 
much^  above  his  parishioners  in  point  of  culture.  Oh 
that  God  would  raise  up  another  Martin  Boos  in  this  re¬ 
gion  of  gross  darkness,  to  proclaim  the  glad  tidings  of 
righteousness  by  the  obedience  of  One ! 

We  spent  the  forenoon  together  in  the  study  of  the 
kcnptuies  and  social  prayer,  and  about  sunset  resolved 
to  visit  the  Jews,  who  met  that  evening  to  celebrate  “  the 
joy  of  the  Law ,”  (mirrnn dip,  simhath  torah).  It  was  the 
commencement  of  that  day  which  is  called  in  John,  “  the 
last  day,  that  great  day  of  the  feast”  *  We  prayed  that 
we  might  have  an  opportunity  of  proclaiming  to  them 
the  words  of  Jesus,  “  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  to 
me  and  drink,”  and  our  desire  was  granted.  On  our 
way  through  the  village  we  noticed  that  the  peasants 
took  off  their  hats  a  long  way  before  they  met  us, — not, 
however,  with  the  cheerful  air  of  a  free-born  Briton,  but 
with  a  sullen  servile  look,  the  result  of  well-remembered 
oppression  ;  for  the  Polish  Barons  used  to  keep  the  pea¬ 
santry  in  real  slavery,  and  the  want  of  a  middle  class  in 
Poland  who  might  link  rich  and  poor  together,  has  per¬ 
petuated  the  system.  Passing  the  cottage  where  the 
marriage  had  been  in  the  morning,  we  saw  a  large  com¬ 
pany  on  the  green  before  the  door,  dancing  to  the  sound 
or  the  violin  and  tabret.  They  have  no  joys  but  those 
ot  earth,  and  the  Sabbath  is  their  chief  day  of  gaiety  and 

The  Jews  have  three  synagogues  here,  the  best  of 
which  is  a  high  and  spacious  building.  On  asking  a 
Jewish  boy  if  the  building  before  us  was  the  synagogue 
of  the  Chasidim,  he  replied,  “  No,  it  is  the  synagogue  of 
the  prostakis,”  that  is,  “the  common  people.”  He  used 
the  word  as  a  term  of  reproach  ;  for  the  spirit  of  the  old 
Pharisees  remains  in  the  heart  of  Israel,  and  they  say 
still,  “  Stand  by  thyself,  come  not  near  to  me,  for  I  am 
holier  than  thou.”f  Entering  the  large  synagogue,  we 
got  into  conversation  with  several  Jews,  while  the  con¬ 
gregation  was  assembling.  We  spoke  to  them  of  the 
way  of  a  sinner’s  pardon ;  and  on  our  saying  that  their 
Cipporah\  was  the  only  remnant  they  had  of  sacrifice, 
one  of  them  replied,  “  That  they  did  not  offer  the  cock 
and  hen  as  a  sacrifice,  for  prayer  now  stood  in  the 
place  of  all  sacrifices.”  How  truly  are  Israel  abiding 


*  John  vii.  37. 


t  Isa.  lxv.  5. 


1  See  p.  404. 


CONVERSATION  WITH  JEWS. 


437 


«  without  a  sacrifice,”  *  when  the  only  appearance  of  a 
sacrifice  that  anywhere  meets  the  eye,  in  the  thousand 
ceremonies  of  Judaism,  is  totally  disclaimed  as  such  by 
themselves  1  We  spoke  on  Isaiah  liii.  and  the  office  of 
Messiah  “  to  give  repentance  to  Israel  and  remission  of 
sins.”  Several  were  attracted  to  us  when  they  heard  us 
speak  of  having  seen  Jerusalem,  and  of  our  love  to  the 
house  of  Israel.  When  we  told  them  that  in  Scotland, 
true  Christians  keep  the  Christian  Sabbath  as  strictly  as 
the  Jewrs  do  theirs,  never  travelling  nor  doing  any  work, 
but  reading  the  Bible,  and  worshipping  God  in  public  and 
private,  they  were  astonished,  and  at  first  did  not  seem 
to  believe  it.  At  length  one  of  them  made  his  way  round 
to  the  spot  where  Mr.  Caiman  was  speaking  in  the  midst 
of  another  group,  and  put  the  question  to  him  if  it  were 
really  sol  The  man  came  back  and  told  his  brethren 
that  it  was  true,  and  all  seemed  greatly  pleased.  Some 
boys  read  to  us  a  portion  of  the  Law,  beginning,  “  Thou 
shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God,”  which  started  another  con¬ 
versation;  and  when  we  hesitated  not  to  use  the  words, 
“Hear,  O  Israel,  the  Lord  thy  God  is  one  Lord,”  telling 
them  of  our  belief  in  the  one  God,  His  wondrous  nature, 
and  His  becoming  incarnate,  they  stood  listening  with 
great  attention,  and  one  asked,  “  Were  you  born  Chris¬ 
tians  1”  On  leaving  them,  we  went  to  the  synagogue  of 
the  Chasidim.  There  we  were  kindly  brought  forward 
to  a  convenient  place  for  seeing  the  procession  in  honour 
of  the  law,  which  was  about  to  take  place.  Several 
Jews  were  very  friendly,  and  anxious  to  hear  about  Jeru¬ 
salem.  One  began  to  speak  of  the  oppression  of  their  na¬ 
tion,  which  is  felt  here  in  the  taxes  laid  on  meat  and  lights, 
for  they  pay  nearly  half  a  zwanzig  for  a  candle, — a  heavy 
burden  on  them  who  use  so  many  every  week.f  We 
told  them  how  different  was  the  feeling  toward  Israel  in 
our  country:  for  true  Christians  in  Scotland  and  Eng¬ 
land  loved  the  Jews,  and  Messiah  enjoined  us  to  bear  a 
special  love  to  them.  We  then  read  together  some  of 
their  prayers,  which  they  asked  us  to  translate  into  Ger¬ 
man.  After  this,  we  had  an  opportunity  of  telling  how 
Jesus,  at  the  very  feast  which  they  were  celebrating, 
stood' in  the  Temple  and  invited  sinners  to  come  to  him. 

At  length,  the  service  began.  The  room  by  this  time 

t  These  taxes  imposed  peculiarly  on  Israel  reminded  us  of  Lam.  v 
4  5“  We  have  drunken  our  water  for  money ;  our  wood  is  sold  unto 
u’s-  Our  necks  are  under  persecution ;  we  labour,  and  have  no  rest.” 


438 


JAGL1NSKY — “  PROCESSION  OF  THE  LAW.” 


was  crowded  to  excess ;  and  the  glare  and  heat  of  the 
large  candles  became  very  unpleasant.  After  a  shon 
prayer,  the  persons  were  called  up  who  were  to  engage 
in  the  procession,  to  each  of  whom  was  entrusted  a  roll 
of  the  Law,  which  he  carried  in  his  arms.  They  are 
called  up  according  to  the  alphabetical  order  of  their 
names,  he  who  presides  using  these  words  as  he  names 
each,  min'?  noD  jn  (ten  kavod  letorah),  “Give  honour  to 
the  Law.”  The  first  company  being  thus  called  up  and 
arranged,  and  all  the  copies  of  the  Torah  in  the  ark  being 
placed  in  their  hands,  the  old  rabbi  began  the  dance. 


The  signal  for  commencing  was  given  (somewhat  pro¬ 
fanely)  in  the  words  of  Exodus,  “  Speak  unto  the  children 
of  Israel  that  they  go  forward.”*  Immediately  they 
began  to  move  slowly  round  the  synagogue,  all  present 
chanting  a  prayer.  Soon  the  singing  became  louder,  and 
the  movements  of  the  worshippers  more  rapid.  They 
clapped  their  hands,  shouted,  and  finally  danced  with  all 
their  might,  dandling  the  roll  of  the  Law  in  their  arms. 
The  old  grey-haired  rabbi  danced  with  the  most  vehe¬ 
ment  gestures,  while  all  sung,  leaped,  and  clapped  their 
hands,  till  the  whole  synagogue  was  one  scene  of  in¬ 
describable  confusion.  When  one  company  had  danced 
till  they  were  weary,  others  were  called  up  to  form  a 

*  Exod.  xiv.  15. 


INTERVIEW  WITH  THE  RABBI. 


439 


second,  until  all  the  members  of  the  synagogue  had 
shared  in  it.  Such  is  a  specimen  of  “  the  procession  of 
the  Law  ”  min  nsipn,  (tekuphath  Torah),  intended  to  give 
honour  to  the  Word  of  the  Living  God.  But  the  chief 
joy  is  reserved  for  the  morrow.  What  a  caricature  is 
this  on  David’s  “  dancing  before  the  Lord  with  all  his 
might !”  and  what  a  contrast  to  David’s  calm  delight  in 
the  word  of  God,  “  O  how  love  I  thy  law,  it  is  my  medi¬ 
tation  all  the  day.”  A  religious  service  more  silly  or 
childish  could  scarcely  be  imagined.  We  were  again 
reminded  of  the  sure  word  of  prophecy,  “  I  will  give 
children  to  be  their  princes,  and  babes  shall  rule  over 
them.”  * 

When  all  was  over,  the  rabbi  sent  to  say  that  he  wished 
to  speak  with  us.  We  accordingly  went  to  his  house, 
“  which  joined  hard  to  the  synagogue,”!  and  which  was 
immediately  filled  to  overflow  with  Jews,  all  intensely 
anxious  to  see  the  Christians  who  had  been  at  Jerusalem, 
and  were  interested  in  their  welfare.  When  we  had 
answered  several  questions  as  to  the  condition  of  their 
brethren  in  Palestine,  Mr.  Caiman  seized  the  valuable 
opportunity,  and  beginning  with  a  reference  to  the  prin¬ 
ciples  of  the  Chasidim,  who  profess  to  do  every  thing 
out  of  pure,  disinterested  love  to  God,  shewed  them  with 
much  affection,  what  Jehovah  had  done  to  awaken  our 
love  toward  himself  in  the  great  gift  of  his  beloved  Son. 
We  then  parted  from  them  in  a  most  friendly  manner, 
and  returned  to  our  inn.  How  affecting  is  such  a  visit 
to  Israel !  “  The  priests  said  not,  Where  is  the  Lord  J 
and  they  that  handle  the  law  knew  me  not.”\  Soon  may 
a  better  day  dawn  on  Zion,  when  the  promise  shall  be 
realized,  “  I  will  give  you  pastors  according  to  mine 
heart,  which  shall  feed  you  with  knowledge  and  under¬ 
standing  /”§ 

(Sept.  30.)  Leaving  our  pleasant  hartsmi ,  we  swept 
through  the  vale  and  village  of  Jaglinsky.  The  morning 
was  clear  and  fine,  but  much  colder  than  we  had  yet  ex¬ 
perienced.  We  travelled  due  north  through  a  vast  plain 
country,  where  all  the  crops  had  been  gathered  in  except 
the  retsky.  The  highway  was  straight  as  a  railroad,  so 
that  we  could  see  before  us  for  several  miles— a  dreary 
prospect  to  a  traveller  on  foot. 

We  came  down  upon  the  large  but  dull  village  of  Zad- 
cow,  where  our  attention  was  attracted  by  a  church 


*  Isa.  iii.  4. 
t  Jer.  ii.  8. 


+  Acts  xviii.  7. 
$  Jer.  iii,  15. 


440  JAGLINSKY  TO  TARNAPOL — SCENERY. 

yard  planted  with  black  crosses  as  thickly  as  a  grove, 
and  by  a  large  cross  at  the  entrance  ornamented  with 
human  skulls  and  bones.  Indeed,  it  is  not  uncommon 
in  Poland  to  see  the  crosses  decorated  with  human 
skulls  and  bones,  in  order  that  they  may  more  deeply 
affect  the  poor  blinded  worshippers.  Here  it  was  dis¬ 
covered  that  one  of  our  horses  needed  a  shoe,  and  as 
the  Polish  smith  proved  to  be  slow  at  the  use  of  the 
hammer,  we  had  opportunity  to  wander  about  the 
place.  The  Eruv  and  the  booths  at  many  cottage- 
doors,  informed  us  that  some  of  the  seed  of  Abraham 
had  found  a  refuge  here  ;  and  we  spoke  to  two  or  three 
on  the  road,  who  told  us  that  there  are  300  Jewish  fami¬ 
lies  in  this  place.  All  the  peasants,  and  even  the  women, 
wore  sheepskin,  to  keep  out  the  keen  north  wind. 

We  travelled  on  through  some  fine  woods  of  elm,  oak, 
ash,  and  most  of  all  birch.  The  villages  on  the  wayside 
are  at  wide  intervals  from  each  other,  yet  all  of  the  same 
character,  tame  and  uninteresting.  The  churches  are 
often  picturesque,  especially  the  old  wooden  ones :  the 
belfry,  too,  is  peculiar,  being  generally  a  building  dis¬ 
tinct  from  the  church,  or  sometimes  an  archway  over 
the  entrance  to  the  church-yard.  Yet  these  bring  no 
sweet  associations  of  a  preached  gospel  and  holy  com¬ 
munion  seasons. 

The  next  large  village  was  Copochinsky,  clean  and 
thriving,  with  its  church,  crosses,  and  images.  One 
image  especially  attracted  our  attention,  standing  in  a 
shed  in  the  market-place, — the  uncouth  figure  of  a  friar 
carrying  the  child  Jesus  in  his  arms.  After  this  we 
passed  two  very  poor  villages,  the  first  of  which  ap¬ 
peared  to  be  altogether  Jewish. 

The  country  now  became  bare  indeed,  though  all 
under  cultivation,  till  we  came  down  upon  Trembowla,  a 
pleasant  town  on  the  banks  of  the  Seret,  having  the  ruins 
of  an  old  castle  overhanging  it,  and  a  square  fortress  at 
some  distance.  It  has  two  very  handsome  churches 
and  one  of  the  large  high  Polish  synagogues,  built  of 
wood,  but  going  rapidly  to  decay.  We  met  several 
Jews,  who  told  us  that  there  are  1500  of  their  brethren 
here,  and  that  their  synagogue  is  120  years  old.  They 
listened  to  us  when  we  testified  of  Messiah’s  atonement 
for  sin. 

North  of  Trembowla  the  country  began  to  improve. 
We  entered  a  fine  valley,  watered  by  the  same  stream 
which  runs  through  the  town.  The  fields  on  either  side 
were  fruitful,  and  almost  entirely  covered  with  hemp. 


ARRIVAL  AT  TARNAPOL. 


441 


At  the  upper  end  of  the  vale  was  a  placid  lake,  out  of 
which  the  stream  issued.  The  hills  were  well  wooded, 
and  some  pleasant  cottages  overhung  the  lake. 

Ascending  higher  ground,  we  drove  through  woods 
of  beech  and  elm,  and  then  through  an  avenue  of  pop¬ 
lars,  and  came  to  Gulonitsky,  a  village  having  a  splendid 
church  with  three  pointed  spires,  and  an  elegant  man¬ 
sion,  which  we  understood,  to  be  that  of  the  Popish  Bish¬ 
op.  Every  thing  around  wore  an  aspect  of  neatness  and 
culture,  and  even  the  crosses  and  images  were  of  better 
workmanship.  A  peculiar  looking  burying-ground  on  a 
slight  eminence  caught  our  eye  as  we  entered.  It  had 
no  black  crosses,  but  white  upright  stones  over  the 
graves.  We  soon  discovered  that  this  was  the  place 
where  the  Jews  bury  their  dead.  How  many  souls  of 
Israel  have  passed  away  even  from  this  one  country  vil¬ 
lage  to  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ,  hardened  in  the  re¬ 
jection  of  his  gospel,  by  the  surrounding  idolatries  of 
the  Church  of  Rome !  Shall  they  not  take  up  the  words 
of  their  fathers  \  “  The  violence  done  to  me  and  to  my 
flesh  be  upon  Babylon,  shall  the  inhabitant  of  Zion  say ; 
and,  My  blood  upon  the  inhabitants  of  Chaldea,  shall 
Jerusalem  say.”  * 

About  sunset  we  arrived  at  Tarnapol,  one  of  the  finest 
towns  of  Austrian  Poland,  a  hundred  milesf  north  from 
Czernowitz.  It  is  of  some  extent,  and  finely  situated, 
overlooking  an  extensive  lake  on  the  north-west,  out  of 
which  flows  the  Seret,  encircling  part  of  the  town.  The 
churches  and  public  buildings  are  large  and  handsome, 
and  there  are  thriving  academies.  The  Jewish  burying- 
ground  is  on  the  right  hand  of  the  road  at  the  entrance 
to  the  town.  Many  Jews  were  upon  the  streets  in  their 
best  clothes,  and  many  Jewesses,  sometimes  six  or  eight 
in  a  company,  enjoying  themselves  upon  this  night  of 
special  festivity. 

Putting  up  our  carriage,  we  set  out  to  visit  the  syna¬ 
gogue  of  the  New  School.  The  service  was  not  begun, 
but  vast  numbers  of  well  dressed  Jews  were  already  as¬ 
sembled,  walking  up  and  down  in  the  porch.  The  fe¬ 
males,  too,  in  their  richest  attire,  were  occupying  their 
quarter  of  the  synagogue.  As  for  devotion,  there  was 
not  even  the  shadow  of  it  to  be  seen ;  the  synagogue 
seemed  to  be  regarded  as  a  place  of  public  amusement 

*  Jer.  li.  35. 

t  Travelling  was  so  cheap  here,  that  the  whole  expense  of  this  jour« 
ney  was  only  2 1. 


39* 


442 


TARNAPOL — JEWISH  SYNAGOGUES. 


and  display;  and  the  words  of  the  prophet  might  that 
night  have  been  rung  in  the  ears  of  the  daughters  of 
Zion,  “  Tremble,  ye  women  that  are  at  ease;  be  trou¬ 
bled,  ye  careless  ones.”  *  Three  Jewish  soldiers,  in  Aus¬ 
trian  uniform,  were  among  the  crowd  that  waited  for  the 
opening  of  the  doors;  and  several  Jewish  boys  showed 
their  courtesy  to  strangers  by  offering  to  take  us  to  a 
seat.  They  could  talk  Latin,  having  attended  the  Aca¬ 
demy,  and  seemed  not  a  little  proud  of  being  able  to 
make  use  of  a  learned  tongue.  The  synagogue  was  at 
length  opened.  It  was  a  commodious  and  elegant  apart¬ 
ment  with  galleries  for  the  women,  handsomely  painted 
and  illuminated  with  wax-candles,  resembling  the  fine  sy¬ 
nagogue  at  Leghorn,  though  not  equal  to  it  in  size.  The 
Jews  were  very  polite,  but  the  service  was  uninterest¬ 
ing  ;  the  company  and  their  dresses  seemed  to  be  the 
principal  entertainment. 

We  left  them,  and  proceeded  to  a  synagogue  of  the 
Chasidim.  Here  were  assembled  a  much  poorer  class 
of  Jews,  who  read  prayers  with  all  the  fervour  of  devo¬ 
tion.  In  a  little  after  we  had  entered,  they  began  the 
procession  in  honour  of  the  law.  A  standard-bearer 
went  first,  then  the  rabbi,  then  six  others,  each  carrying 
-  a  roll  of  the  law.  Upon  the  standard  was  embroidered 
the  Austrian  eagle  with  the  words,  “  I  bare  you  on  eagles’ 
wings.”f  From  this  synagogue  we  sought  our  way  to 
the  great  synagogue  of  the  Rabbinical  Jews.  We  wished 
to  see  the  joyful  procession  from  the  rabbi’s  house  to  the 
synagogue, — a  scene  of  uproar  and  folly.  Several  Jews 
were  discharging  pistols  and  fire-works  in  the  open 
street.  The  doors  of  the  synagogue  were  not  yet  open¬ 
ed,  and  the  crowd  in  the  porch  were  running  to  and  fro 
in  boisterous  mirth.  Alas !  there  were  none  of  Jacob’s 
feelings,  “  How  dreadful  is  this  place !  this  is  none  other 
but  the  house  of  God,  and  this  is  the  gate  of  heaven.” 
At  length,  the  old  rabbi  and  his  friends  arrived,  with 
lighted  candles  and  torches  carried  before  them,  and  a 
banner,  amidst  the  shouts  of  the  multitude.  The  doors 
were  thrown  open,  and  the  crowd  rushed  in.  The  bra¬ 
zen  lustres  poured  forth  a  flood  of  dazzling  light,  reveal¬ 
ing  a  very  large  old  synagogue,  with  a  high  vaulted  roof. 
It  is  about  600  years  old,  and  in  style  bears  a  resem¬ 
blance  to  some  of  our  least  ornamented  Gothic  churches. 
The  gallery  of  the  females  occupied  one  side  of  the  build¬ 
ing,  entirely  closed  from  view  by  a  lattice  work.  After 

*  Isa.  xxxii.  11.  t  Exod.  xix.  4. 


LAST  DAY  OP  THE  FEAST. 


443 


prayer,  thirty-six  Jews  were  called  up  to  give  honour  to 
the  law,  and  each  was  intrusted  with  one  of  the  rolls  out 
of  the  ark.  The  lighted  standard,  and  a  flag  with  a  lighted 
candle  at  the  top  of  the  staff,  were  carried  foremost,  then 
the  rabbi,  a  staid  respectable-looking  man,  with  thirty- 
six  bearers  of  the  law,  followed  after.  There  was  no 
dance  nor  extravagant  shouting,  but  a  company  of  young 
Jews  sang  many  lively  airs,  often  imitating  the  sound  of 
trumpets  and  other  musical  instruments  of  a  military 
band ;  the  spectators  clapping  hands  while  the  procession 
moved  seven  times  round  the  synagogue.  And  this  is 
all  the  joy  of  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  which  Israel 
knows  now  !  Where  now  are  the  days  of  Ezra  and  Ne- 
hemiah,  when  “  the  joy  of  the  Lord  was  their  strength”— 
when  they  made  booths  and  sat  under  the  booths,  “  and 
there  was  very  great  gladness  ?  Also  day  by  day,  from 
the  first  day  unto  the  last  day,  he  read  in  the  book  of 
the  law  of  God ;  and  they  kept  the  feast  seven  days,  and 
on  the  eighth  day  was  a  solemn  assembly  according  unto 
the  manner.”  *  Surely  “  the  Lord  has  caused  the  solemn 
feasts  to  be  forgotten  in  Sion  !”f  It  is  not  thus  that  Israel 
shall  worship  on  that  approaching  day,  when  “  they  shall 
draw  water  with  joy  out  of  the  wells  of  salvation,  be¬ 
cause  the  Lord  Jehovah  is  their  strength  and  song.”:}; 
Nor  shall  it  be  with  our  feelings  that  the  believing  na¬ 
tions  shall  in  that  day  look  on  Israel’s  holy  service,  when 
“  they  go  up  from  year  to  year  to  worship  the  King,  the 
Lord  of  Hosts,  and  to  keep  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles.”^ 

(Oct.  1.)  Tarnapol  has  15,000  inhabitants,  and  of  these 
there  are  1800  families  of  Jews,  probably  more  than  half 
the  population.  The  Academy  is  said  to  be  a  very  good 
one  ;  we  met  some  of  the  students  walking  in  the  mea¬ 
dows  near  the  lake,  carrying  their  books  upon  their 
heads.  The  Jews  spent  this  day  in  prayer,  on  account 
of  the  anniversary  of  the  death  of  Moses. 

We  visited  a  synagogue  of  the  Chasidim,  in  a  part  of 
the  town  where  we  had  not  been  before.  Our  entrance 
caused  considerable  commotion  among  the  worshippers ; 
their  faces  assumed  an  aspect  of  terror,  their  chanting 
was  all  but  silenced,  and  they  whispered  anxiously  to 
one  another.  The  reason  for  their  alarm  was,  that  they 
thought  we  were  officers  of  the  Austrian  Government, 


*  Neh.  viii.  17,  18. 
t  Isa.  xii.  3. 


t  Lam.  ii.  6. 

$  Zech.  xiv.  16. 


444  TARNAPOL — JEWS  OP  THE  NEW  SCHOOL. 

come  to  spy  out  their  doings,  and  find  a  pretext  for  op¬ 
pressing  them.  How  truly  these  words  have  come  to 
pass,  “  I  will  send  a  faintness  into  their  hearts  in  the 
lands  of  their  enemies,  and  the  sound  of  a  shaken  leaf 
shall  chase  them ;  and  they  shall  flee  as  fleeing  from  a 
sword,  and  they  shall  fall  when  none  pursueth.”*  Mr. 
Caiman  soon  relieved  their  fears,  and  in  a  little  time,  we 
saw  the  dance  in  honour  of  the  law  renewed  with  greater 
vehemence  than  ever.  At  first  they  danced  two  and 
two,  then  three  or  four  all  joined  hand  in  hand;  they 
leaped  also  as  well  as  danced,  singing  at  the  same  time, 
and  occasionally  clapping  hands,  in"  a  manner  that  re¬ 
minded  us  of  the  Arab  dance  and  song  in  the  East.  A 
few  seemed  quite  in  earnest,  with  a  wild  fanatical  expres¬ 
sion  in  their  countenances,  while  others  were  light  and 
merry.  One  mild,  elderly  Jew  spoke  to  us,  and  after 
listening  to  what  we  said  regarding  Messiah’s  once  offer¬ 
ing  himself  for  sin,  kept  by  us  all  the  time,  followed  us 
when  we  left,  and  shook  hands,  heartily  wishing  us  God¬ 
speed  in  our  journey. 

We  paid  a  second  visit  to  the  Jews  of  the  New  School. 
They  were  finishing  “  the  procession  of  the  Law”  as  we 
entered ;  for  they  go  through  all  the  ceremonies  of  the 
other  Jews,  although  in  their  heart  they  despise  them. 
There  is  great  mutual  contempt  between  the  Jews  of  the 
Old  and  those  of  the  New  School.  They  told  us  that  the 
rabbi  who  founded  the  New  School  in  Tarnapol  had 
died  there  that  very  day,  and  all  the  Chasidim  were  re¬ 
joicing  at  the  news.  This  man  had  been  the  means  of 
introducing  the  new  system  of  education  for  the  Jewish 
youth  of  this  place,  by  instituting  an  Academy  where  the 
German,  Polish,  Latin,  and  Hebrew  languages,  as  well 
as  many  branches  of  science,  are  regularly  taught.  He 
and  his  party  had  such  influence  with  the  government 
that  at  first  they  were  empowered  to  compel  all  Jewish 
children  to  attend  the  Academy ;  but  this  order  was  after¬ 
wards  withdrawn,  only  they  were  allowed  to  put  a  tax 
of  three  krutzers  on  the  oke  of  meat,  for  every  boy  who 
is  not  sent.  In  spite  of  this,  the  Rabbinical  Jews  cling  as 
firmly  as  ever  to  their  old  system,  and  only  200  children 
have  been  sent  to  the  Academy,  though  there  are  3000 
Jewish  children  in  Tarnapol.  It  is  not,  however,  alto¬ 
gether  from  real  attachment  to  their  old  system  that  the 
majority  thus  oppose  any  change;  it  proceeds  in  many 


*  Lev.  xxvii.  36. 


OPINIONS  OF  THE  NEW  SCHOOL  JEWS.  445 

cases  rather  from  a  regard  to  self-interest,  and  in  some 
from  personal  dislike  to  the  present  rabbi.  It  is  much  to 
be  lamented,  that  even  those  who  are  taught  in  the 
schools  of  the  New  Synagogue  do  not  acquire  a  gram¬ 
matical  knowledge  of  Hebrew,  which  would  be  of  the 
greatest  importance,  as  it  would  enable  them  to  read  the 
Word  of  God  with  ease  and  intelligence.  The  reason 
of  this  is,  that  they  are  not  allowed  to  attend  the  Aca¬ 
demy  until  they  have  attained  a  certain  age ;  so  that 
most  of  those  who  go  to  the  teacher  there  have  already 
been  taught  in  some  degree  by  a  private  instructor,  but 
have  not  had  a  solid  foundation  laid. 

We  found  much  difficulty  in  ascertaining  the  real 
opinions  of  the  New  Synagogue  here.  To  some  extent 
they  might  be  called  infidels ,  for  they  do  not  make  the 
Bible  the  foundation  of  their  faith.  But  they  differ  widely 
from  the  infidel  Jews  of  Germany  and  France  in  this, 
that  they  have  great  respect  for  the  Bible,  and  seem  to 
have  cast  it  off  rather  from  a  belief  that  they  can  arrive 
at  truth  without  it,  than  from  any  positive  dislike.  They 
are  still  interested  in  whatever  regards  the  Holy  Land, 
though  they  do  not  expect  to  return  to  it.  Many  of 
them,  however,  believe,  like  other  infidel  Jews,  that  po¬ 
litical  emancipation  is  the  only  Messiah  they  are  to  look 
for.  It  was  the  rejection  of  the  Talmud  that  led  them  to 
reject  the  Bible  also ;  and  yet  they  retain  the  rabbinical 
ceremonies,  though  they  do  this  chiefly  because  the  Cha¬ 
sidim  have  accused  them  of  forming  a  new  sect,  which 
the  Austrian  Government  rigorously  forbids.  It  is  plain 
from  this  fact,  that  there  is  little  of  conscientious  belief 
among  them.  Self-interest  and  the  favour  of  the  world 
appear  to  form  their  principal  rule  of  life.  Several  Jews 
of  this  class  called  on  us  at  our  lodging,  and  were  ex¬ 
ceedingly  polite.  One  said,  “  The  Bible  had  served  its 
day  ;  there  was  need  of  something  else  now.”  Another, 
on  being  asked  why  they  retained  the  ceremonies  and 
forms  of  Judaism  since  they  rejected  the  Talmud,  gave 
this  Jesuitical  reason,  “that  by  maintaining  their  pro¬ 
fession,  they  obtained  access  to  the  families  of  other 
Jews,  and  thus  had  opportunity  of  quietly  diffusing  their 
doctrines,  and  undermining  the  prejudices  of  their  breth¬ 
ren.”  At  Odessa,  some  of  their  sect  have  gained  the 
approbation  of  the  Russian  Emperor  for  their  schools. 
Only  two  have  been  baptized  in  Tarnapol,  and  these 
were  females,  who  were  induced  by  the  prospect  of  being 


446 


TARNAPOL — RABBI  RAPAPORT — YOUNG  JEW. 


married  into  good  Roman  Catholic  families.  We  spent 
many  hours  in  discussion  with  these  men.  At  one  time 
we  had  five  in  the  room.  Mr.  Caiman  spoke  plainly  to 
them  of  true  Christianity ;  and  Mr.  M‘Cheyne  explained 
and  applied  Zech.  xii.  10,  to  one  interesting  Jew  who  , 
spoke  Latin.  He  said  that  he  was  one  of  about  twenty 
who  were  able  to  converse  in  that  language. 

In  the  evening  we  paid  a  visit  to  the  chief  man  of  the 
rabbinical  Jews,  Rabbi  Rapaport,  the  same  of  whom  we 
had  heard  in  Jassy  as  being  at  the  head  of  the  secret 
Society  for  undermining  Judaism,— considered  one  of 
the  most  learned  Jews  in  the  world,  both  in  regard  to 
languages  and  general  knowledge.  He  received  us  po¬ 
litely,  but  at  the  same  time  with  somewhat  of  the  stiff¬ 
ness  of  assumed  dignity.  He  put  many  questions  re¬ 
garding  Palestine,  and  seemed  to  be  familiar  with  the 
events  of  the  day  in  that  country.  He  inquired  as  to 
the  progress  and  success  of  Ibraim  Pasha,  and  also  con¬ 
cerning  the  visit  of  Sir  Moses  Montefiore.  We  asked 
his  opinions  regarding  Messiah;  to  which  he  replied 
very  cautiously,  “ that  there  was  no  fixed  time  for  his 
coming,  and  that  the  doctrine  of  a  Messiah  was  not  one 
of  the  original  articles  of  the  Jewish  creed.  These  (he 
said)  related  only  to  God,  the  resurrection,  and  the  final 
judgment  of  men.”  One  of  his  attendants  spoke  out  his 
opinion  more  fully,  saying,  “  It  would  have  been  better 
if  Messiah  had  never  been  foretold!” 

Later  in  the  evening,  a  well-educated  young  Jew 
called  on  us.  Hearing  that  we  had  been  inquiring  about 
the  practicability  of  instituting  schools  among  the  Jews, 
he  came  to  offer  himself  as  a  teacher.  He  thought  him¬ 
self  qualified,  having  taught  in  the  Academy  of  the  Je¬ 
suits  in  the  town.  He  conversed  with  us  in  Latin,  always 
addressing  us  by  the  title  of  “Dominatio  vestra”  When 
telling  us  that  he  had  given  up  all  expectation  of  the 
restoration  of  his  people  to  their  own  land,  and  of  the 
coming  of  Messiah,  he  used  this  remarkable  expression, 

“ Despero ,  deeper o ,”  that  is,  “I  have  no  hope  of  it,”  the 
very  term  used  by  the  prophet  Ezekiel,  when  he  foretold 
what  would  be  the  state  of  Israel  before  the  breath  should 
enter  into  them,  “  Behold,  they  say,  Our  bones  are  dried 
and  our  hope  is  lost .”  *  This  young  man  professed  still 
to  believe  the  Bible ;  and  we  urged  upon  him  the  duty 
of  believing  things  because  God  had  revealed  them,  and 

*  Ezek.  xxxvii.  11. 


JEWISH  BURYING-PLACE, 


447 


not  because  reason  suggested  them.  Nearly  one-half  of 
the  Jewish  population  of  Tarnapol  have  joined  the  new 
sect ;  yet  the  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  Rabbinical 
Jews,  and  especially  the  Chasidim,  is  very  strong.  One 
example  of  this  is  curious. — The  new  sect  made  a  pro¬ 
posal  to  form  a  colony  under  the  sanction  of  the  Govern¬ 
ment,  The  Chasidim,  in  order  to  counteract  this,  dis¬ 
tributed  among  the  people  charms ,  consisting  of  small 
pieces  of  paper,  on  which  some  mystical  Hebrew  sent¬ 
ences  were  written,  one  of  which,  as  a  curiosity,  we 
procured. 

We  visited  the  Jewish  burying-place,  a  large  plot  of 
ground  ornamented  with  trees  near  the  entrance  of  the 
town.  It  is  covered  with  upright  gravestones,  some  of 
them  200  years  old,  having  inscriptions  generally  in  good 
preservation,  and  some  elegant  monuments  over  the 
Rabbis.  The  device  upon  the  stone  where  a  cohen  or 
priest  lies  buried,  is  two  hands  in  the  position  of  one 
pronouncing  the  blessing,  and  below  are  the  words,  “On 
this  wise  shall  ye  bless  Israel.”*  A  cluster  of  grapes, 
lighted  candles,  an  eagle,  and  a  gazelle,  were  some  of 
the  other  devices.  Several  of  the  other  inscriptions  were 
poetical,  but  none  were  interesting.  A  little  boy  was 
buried  while  we  were  there.  They  brought  him  to  the 
grave  bound  up  in  a  white  shroud,  and  lying  on  a  bier. 
A  Gentile  dug  the  grave, — it  being  unlawful  for  an  Israel¬ 
ite  to  do  servile  labour  on  a  solemn  feast  day.  A  small 
pillow  was  filled  with  earth,  and  laid  in  the  grave  to  be 
a  resting-place  for  his  head.  The  face  was  left  uncov¬ 
ered,  and  a  loose  board  laid  over  the  body,  to  prevent 
the  earth  from  injuring  it  when  thrown  in.  The  covered 
board  is  loose,  that  the  dead  may  have  no  trouble  in 
getting  out  at  the  resurrection,  and  sometimes,  we  were 
told,  they  put  a  staff  beside  the  body  to  help  the  person 
to  rise  at  that  day !  Before  the  body  was  laid  in  the 
grave,  the  attendants  went  through  a  miserable  supersti¬ 
tion  ;  the  friends  present  bending  over  him  and  asking 
the  dead  to  forgive  them  if  they  had  injured  him  in  any 
way  during  his  life,  and  to  forgive  his  father  and  grand¬ 
father,  or  any  other  friend  who  had  done  so.  We  were 
shown  the  grave  of  a  Jewess,  who  died  200  years  ago, 
named  Galla,  the  daughter  of  a  rabbi,  who  is  said  to  have 
lately  wrought  miracles  on  diseased  persons  who  prayed 
at  her  grave.  Some  time  ago,  she  appeared  in  a  dream 
to  several  people  in  town,  and  told  them  that  she  had 

*  Numb.  vi.  23. 


448 


DEPARTURE  FROM  TARNAPOL, 


got  this  power.  Many  went  to  the  place,  and,  accord 
ing  to  the  story  of  our  guide,  were  cured.  A  heap  of 
twigs  lay  piled  up  several  feet  near  her  gravestone,  each 
one  put  there  by  the  hand  of  some  grateful  Jew  or  Jew 
ess  who  had  reaped  the  benefit  of  a  visit  to  her  grave 
Our  guide  assured  us  that  his  grandmother  had  been 
completely  cured  of  a  desperate  disease,  by  coming  to 
pray  beside  this  grave.  The  prophets  of  Israel  foresaw 
this  feature  of  Jewish  apostasy,  “  Should  not  a  people 
seek  unto  their  God  I  for  the  living  (shall  they  go)  to  the 
dead  ?  To  the  law  and  to  the  testimony,  if  they  speak 
not  according  to  this  word,  there  is  no  light  in  them.”  * 
In  the  cool  of  evening,  we  enjoyed  a  pleasant  walk  on 
the  banks  of  the  neighbouring  lake,  and  met  a  company 
of  about  thirty  Jews,  singing  together  in  a  joyful  mood. 
There  is  a  better  day  coming,  when  after  they  have  sown 
in  tears,  “  they  shall  return  and  come  to  Zion  with  songs 
and  everlasting  joy  upon  their  heads.”f 
(Oct.  2.)  Early  this  morning  we  observed  the  young 
men  who  attend  the  gymnasium,  on  their  way  to  the 
principal  church  to  be  present  at  morning  prayers  for 
half  an  hour.  There  were  perhaps  300,  all  marching  in 
regular  order,  with  their  ushers  wearing  the  dress  of  the 
Popish  priests.  Thus  the  chains  of  Popery  are  riveted 
on  the  rising  generation.  Before  the  door  of  the  church 
stood  an  immense  cross,  with  a  small  picture  of  Christ 
near  the  foot.  As  the  young  men  retired,  many  of  them 
approached  the  cross  and  kissed  the  picture,  making 
obeisance  before  it.  What  must  Israel  think  when  they 
see  the  best  educated  of  the  Polish  youth  worshipping  an 
image  in  the  open  street,  as  well  as  the  blinded  peasan¬ 
try  bowing  down  to  huge  crosses  and  uncouth  images 
of  saints,  that  disfigure  the  wayside  and  are  crowded 
round  every  village, — what  can  they  think  in  such  a  land 
as  this,  but  that  Jesus  taught  his  followers  to  bow  down 
to  wood  and  stone,  like  the  worst  of  the  heathen  1  Sure¬ 
ly,  in  the  skirts  of  Babylon  shall  be  found,  not  only  the 
blood  of  prophets  and  of  saints,  but  the  blood  of  many  a 
Jew.  “As  Babylon  has  caused  the  slain  of  Israel  to  fall, 
so  at  Babylon  shall  fall  the  slain  of  all  the  earth.”  j; 

Several  Jews  called  and  took  leave  of  us  in  a  very 
kind  manner.  Before  setting  out  about  nine  o’clock,  a 
great  crowd  began  to  assemble  round  a  house  opposite 
to  our  lodging.  It  was  the  house  of  rabbi  Perl,  the  great 
reformer  and  founder  of  the  New  School,  who  was  that 
*  Isa.  viii.  19, 20.  t  Isa.  xxxv.  10.  t  Jer.  li.  49. 


ZALOSC— —SARETSKY. 


449 


day  to  be  buried,  and  about  500  Jews  had  met  at  that 
early  hour  to  do  honour  to  his  remains.  We  left  the 
town  in  a  Jewish  brisca,  a  light  wagon  without  springs, 
not  very  comfortable,  driven  by  a  bearded  Jew,  who 
was  not  very  steady,  for  he  stopped  at  the  first  house  of 
entertainment  on  the  road,  and  when  we  asked  the  rea¬ 
son,  said  very  honestly  that  he  wanted  snaps, — the  com¬ 
mon  name  in  that  country  for  strong  drink.  The  day 
was  warm  and  fine,  but  the  country  bare  and  uninter¬ 
esting.  The  crops  were  all  off  the  ground,  except  the 
potatoes,  which  the  peasants  were  gathering.  Some¬ 
times  the  road  was  sandy  and  heavy,  sometimes  a  plea¬ 
sant  wood  of  oak  or  birch  relieved  the  weary  eye.  At 
one  part,  a  beggar  boy  seeing  us  approach,  bowled  to  the 
ground,  kissed  the  dust  before  us,  and  then,  with  clasped 
hands  and  imploring  look,  asked  an  alms. 

About  one  o’clock  we  came  to  Zalosc,  situated,  like 
very  many  of  the  small  towns  of  Poland,  on  the  margin 
of  a  lake.  Here  we  stopped  at  a  Jewish  khan,  and  par¬ 
took  of  “  Mit-tag ,”  or  “  midday  meal,”  as  it  is  there  call¬ 
ed.  Pike  taken  out  of  the  lake  was  set  upon  the  table, 
along  with  some  of  the  remnants  of  the  previous  day’s 
repast,  at  the  close  of  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles.  A  pic¬ 
ture  of  the  famous  rabbi,  Landau,  hung  upon  the  wall, 
a  favourite  ornament  in  all  the  Jewish  houses.  We  were 
told  that  there  are  100  families  of  Jews  residing  here. 

Not  far  from  this  is  another  village  called  Saretsky,  on 
the  margin  of  a  considerable  lake.  A  few  Jews  were  in 
the  streets  as  we  passed  through.  Images  abounded  on 
the  roadside,  and  especially  round  the  village.  How 
long  shall  it  be  ere  the  Lord  a  second  time  bring  to  pass 
the  words  written,  “  Therefore,  behold,  the  days  come 
that  I  will  do  judgment  upon  the  graven  images  of  Ba¬ 
bylon.”  * 

At  sunset,  we  came  in  sight  of  a  prominent  eminence, 
crowned  with  a  beautiful  church,  and  near  it  a  large 
building  in  a  grove,  which  we  conjectured  to  be  a  con¬ 
vent.  The  name  of  the  place  is  Potkamin,  one  of  the 
most  sightly  villages  of  this  part  of  the  country.  Many 
Jews  were  walking  in  the  large  square  or  market-place, 
and  the  shomesh  or  “beadle”  was  in  the  act  of  going 
round  the  village,  knocking  loudly  at  the  door  of  every 
Jewish  house,  to  give  warning  that  the  hour  for  worship 
in  the  synagogue  had  arrived.  We  spoke  a  few  minutes 
with  some  of  them,  who  said  that  there  are  300  families 

*  Jer.  li.  47. 

40 


450  POTKAMIN— -JEWS— ARRIVAL  AT  BRODY. 

of  Jews.  We  told  an  old  man,  and  a  friend  who  was 
with  him,  that  we  had  come  from  the  Holy  Land ;  on 
hearing  which,  he  asked  us,  “  If  we  had  prayed  over  the 
graves  of  the  saints  at  Jerusalem  1”*  Mr.  Caiman  re* 
plied,  that  the  word  of  God  forbade  us  to  do  so.  But 
the  old  man  quoted  Eccles.  iv.  2,  “  I  praised  the  dead  that 
are  already  dead  more  than  the  living  that  are  yet  alive, 
and  confirmed  his  interpretation  of  the  passage  by  re¬ 
ferring  to  the  Gemara,  which  says  that  Solomon  prayed 
to  the  dead.  Mr.  Caiman  showed,  that  in  following  the 
Gemara  the  Jews  were  trusting  to  the  word  of  man , 
which  would  ruin  their  souls.  Upon  which  one  that 
stood  by  replied,  “How  could  we  know  when  a  spoon 
or  a  pot  should  be  used,  if  we  had  not  the  Gemaial 
Mr.  C.  answered,  that  that  kind  of  knowledge  was  of  no 
consequence,  but  the  knowledge  of  our  true  state  before 
God,  as  taught  in  his  word,  was  infinitely  important  for 
us  all.  With  another  intelligent  Jew,  under  a  shed  be¬ 
fore  his  shop-door,  we  had  time  to  converse  a  little.  We 
told  him  we  came  from  Scotland,  had  been  in  Palestine, 
and  loved  the  Jews.  He  spoke  freely,  and  on  our  saying 
that  he  had  no  atonement  for  sin  to  offer,  replied,  “  All 
that  is  required  is  prayer,  not  sacrifice.”  >  We  spoke  of 
Messiah  coming  for  the  very  end  of  making  atonement, 
and  that  we  looked  also  for  his  coming  again  the  second 
time.  He  said  that  all  the  Jews  of  that  village  were  Cha¬ 
sidim,  and  that  they  were  all  hoping  for  Messiah’s  com¬ 
ing.  At  this  place,  instead  of  the  common  Eruv  or 
string  at  the  entrance  of  the  town,  there  was  a  gateway 
of  wood  across  the  street. 

Soon  after  leaving  Potkamin,  the  road  became  rough 
and  irregular,  and  in  many  places  was  made  of  soft 
sand.  Darkness  came  on,  and  we  saw  little  more  till  we 
found  ourselves  approaching  Brody,  through  an  avenue 
of  tall  pines.  It  was  late  when  we  arrived  at  the  gate 
of  Brody,  but  it  was  opened  to  us  on  the  ground  of  our 
being  English  travellers,  and  we  were  soon  comfortably 
lodged  in  a  respectable  inn,  kept  by  a  German  Jew.  The 
distance  from  Tarnapol  is  eight  German,  or  forty  Eng¬ 
lish,  miles.  A  .  ,  . 

(Oct.  3.)  At  an  early  hour  we  were  disturbed  m  a 

most  unceremonious  way,  by  a  series  of  officious  Jewish 
hawkers  coming  to  our  chamber,  eager  to  dispose  of 
their  goods.  First  of  all  the  door  was  pushed  open,  then 
a  fur-cap  and  long  beard  thrust  in,  while  a  voice  demand¬ 
ed,  in  German,  if  we  needed  knives  or  combs.  No  soonei 

*  See  again  Isa.  viii.  19* 


JEWISH  POPULATION. 


451 


was  this  visitor  gone,  than  another  similar  head  was  thrust 
in,  and  a  voice  asked,  if  we  wished  to  buy  soap.  This  sin¬ 
gular  kind  of  annoyance  was  repeated  by  eight  similar 
visitors  before  we  were  fully  dressed,  and  we  were  obli¬ 
ged  at  last  in  self-defence  to  lock  the  chamber-door. 

Brody  is  situated  in  the  midst  of  a  sandy  plain,  and  is 
five  miles  distant  from  the  Russian  frontier.  So  com¬ 
pletely  level  is  the  country  all  round,  that  the  distant 
village  of  Potkamin  is  the  only  object  beyond  the  town 
which  arrests  the  eye.  When  a  traveller  approaches 
Brody  there  is  no  city  visible,  there  being  only  three 
spires,  and  all  the  houses  being  hid  by  the  trees  of  the 
environs.  Its  nearness  to  Russia  gives  it  importance, 
and  increases  its  trade.  There  are  no  more  than  three 
Christian  churches  in  the  town,  two  of  which  are  Greek, 
and  one  Roman  Catholic,  while  there  are  150  synagogues. 
The  streets  in  general  are  tolerably  clean,  and  there  is  a 
side-pavement  entirely  of  wood.  The  appearance  of  the 
population  was  certainly  the  most  singular  we  had  wit¬ 
nessed.  It  seemed  wholly  a  Jewish  city;  and  the  few 
Gentiles  who  appeared  here  and  there  were  quite  lost  in 
the  crowd  of  Jews.  Jewish  boys  and  girls  were  playing 
in  the  streets ;  and  Jewish  maid-servants  carrying 
messages ;  Jewish  women  were  the  only  females  to  be 
seen  at  the  doors  and  windows ;  and  Jewish  merchants 
filled  the  market-place.  The  high  fur-caps  of  the  men, 
the  rich  head-dress  of  the  women,  and  the  small  round 
velvet  caps  of  the  boys,  met  the  eye  on  every  side  as  we 


JEWISH  BOY  WEARING  THE  VELVET  CAP. 


452  BRODY — HEAD-DRESS  OF  THE  JEWISH  WOMEN. 

wandered  from  street  to  street.  Jewish  ladies  were  lean¬ 
ing  over  balconies,  and  poor  old  Jewesses  were  sitting  at 
stalls  selling  fruit.  In  passing  through  the  streets,  if  we 
happened  to  turn  the  head  for  a  moment  toward  a  shop, 
some  Jew  would  rush  out  immediately  and  assail  us  with 
importunate  invitations  to  come  and  buy.*  In  the  bazaar, 
Jews  were  selling  skins,  making  shoes,  and  offering 
earthenware  for  sale  ;  and  the  sign-boards  of  plumbers, 
masons,  painters,  and  butchers,  all  bore  Jewish  names. 
In  the  fish-market,  the  same  kind  of  wrangling  and 
squabbling  heard  in  our  own  markets  was  carried  on  by 
Jewesses,  buying  and  selling.  Jewesses  also  presided  at 
the  flesh  and  poultry  market,  and  in  a  plentifully  stored 
green-market.  Near  these  were  shambles  for  torn  meat , 
to  be  sold  only  to  Gentiles,  Jews  being  forbidden  in  the 
law  to  eat  “  any  flesh  that  is  torn  of  beasts.”!  The  fond¬ 
ness  of  the  daughters  of  Zion  for  a  fine  head-dress,  which 
called  forth  the  indignant  warnings  of  Isaiah,  still  lingers 
in  the  hearts  of  the  Jewesses  at  Brody.  They  wear  a 
black  velvet  coronet,  adorned  with  strings  of  precious 
stones  or  imitation  pearls  ;  and  though  this  piece  of  finery 
costs  several  pounds,  yet  so  devotedly  attached  are  they 
to  their  “  round  tires  like  the  moon,”!  that  scarcely  can 
an  old  woman  be  found  seated  at  her  stall  who  does  not 
wear  one,  as  if  they  were  queens  even  in  their  cap¬ 
tivity. 

There  is  indeed  a  complete  air  of  Judaism  over  the 
whole  town ;  and  at  the  Post-office,  the  notices  as  to  the 
delivery  of  letters  are  printed  not  only  in  the  German  and 
Polish,  but  also  in  the  Hebrew  language. 

The  number  of  Jewish  families  enrolled  at  the  last  cen¬ 
sus  was  5000.  An  intelligent  Austrian,  whom  we  after¬ 
wards  met  at  Zloozow,— the  superintendent  of  the  dis¬ 
trict, — reckoned  that  there  were  25,  000  Jews  and  10, 000 
Christians  in  Brody.  His  estimate  of  the  Jewish  popula¬ 
tion  is  probably  very  near  the  truth,  though  the  propor¬ 
tion  he  assigned  to  the  Christian  or  Gentile  population 
was  perhaps  too  high.  There  are  a  few  professed  Pro¬ 
testants  resident  here,  whom  the  German  minister  of 
Lemberg  visits  only  once  a-year ,  when  he  preaches  in 
the  hall  of  the  inn  where  we  stayed.  How  precious 
would  the  truth  appear  to  some  of  our  congregations  in 
Scotland,  were  they  subjected  to  such  a  famine  of  hear¬ 
ing  the  word  of  the  Lord  ! 


*  See  Isa.  lv.  i. 


t  Exod.  xxii.  31. 


I  Isa.  iii.  18. 


JEWS — SYNAGOGUE. 


153 


The  Jews  of  Brody  carry  on  a  considerable  trade  with 
Leipsic  and  Odessa.  They  have  great  influence  in  the 
town,  and  often  act  as  spies  to  the  Austrian  police.  About 
six  years  ago,  Mr.  Reichardt,  now  Jewish  missionary  in 
London,  with  another  Christian  friend,  passed  this  way 
and  distributed  tracts;  information  was  immediately 
given  to  the  police,  by  whom  they  were  detained  two 
weeks  till  the  authorities  at  Lemberg  had  been  consulted, 
and  then  were  ordered  to  be  removed  forthwith  beyond 
the  border. 

There  are  perhaps  forty  rich  Jews  in  the  city,  who  may 
be  worth  about  10,000/.  or  20,000/.,  but  the  greater  part 
are  poor.  There  are  many  adherents  of  the  New  School, 
although  they  have  only  one  synagogue.  Most  of  the 
rising  generation  are  giving  up  the  study  of  the  Talmud; 
and  several  have  been  baptized.  There  is  some  learning 
among  them;  for  in  one  synagogue  we  met  with  several 
lads  who  understood  and  spoke”  Hebrew.  Many  of  the 
young  men  are  beginning  to  attend  the  Government 
schools,  in  which  they  are  taught  Latin,  and  acquire 
general  knowledge.  The  rabbi  of  the  New  School 
speaks  Latin  and  French. 

We  visited  one  of  their  finest  synagogues.  It  is  like 
an  ancient  Gothic  church:  the  roof  very  elevated,  and 
supported  by  four  immense  pillars  in  the  massy  Gothic 
style.  Brass  lustres  in  great  profusion  were  suspended 
from  the  roof,  especially  in  front  of  the  ark,  all  handsome 
and  brightly  polished.  The  place  might  easily  contain 
two  or  three  thousand  worshippers.  The  voice  of  prayer, 
and  the  loud  Amen  of  the  congregation,  must  sound  very 
solemnly  through  the  vaulted  aisles.  In  the  porch  stand 
vessels  of  water  for  washing  the  hands  ;*  and  the  whole 
prayer-book  is  pasted  up  on  boards  upon  the  walls,  for 
the  sake  ol  the  poor.  In  a  B eth-midrash  adjoining  the 
synagogue,  we  found  a  company  of  Jews  engaged  in 
study,  and  each  of  us  gathered  a  group  around  him. 
Several  were  able  to  speak  Hebrew  fluently ;  but  there 
was  a  reserve  about  them  all,  that  distinguished  them 
from  the  Jews  of  Moldavia  and  Wallachia.  They  had 
secret  suspicions  that  our  object  in  visiting  them  was  con¬ 
nected  with  the  Austrian  Government ;  and  our  inquiries 
after  some  of  their  books,  excited  their  suspicion  still 
more,  for  some  of  their  books,  which  speak  against  the 
idolatry  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  are  prohibited. 


*  See  John  ii.  6. 
40* 


454 


BR0DY-—JEW1SH  HOSPITAL. 


We  visited  the  hospital  belonging  exclusively  to  the 
Jewish  community,  called  by  them  o^nn  n\3  (beth-haho- 
lim),  “  the  house  of  the  sick,”  situated  in  one  of  the 
suburbs.  Over  the  door  is  a  Latin  inscription,  “  JEgro- 
rum  saluti .”  All  the  wards  were  remarkably  clean  and 
well  arranged,  fully  equal  to  those  of  our  own  hospitals. 
There  is  a  commodious  kitchen,  where  the  food  is  pre¬ 
pared  after  the  English  fashion,  and  there  are  baths  and 
a  flower-garden  for  the  use  of  the  patients.  The  phy¬ 
sician,  two  surgeons,  and  the  nurses  belonging  to  the 
establishment,  are  all  Jewish.  There  were  fifty-three 
cases  under  treatment  at  the  time,  each  patient  having 
a  board  over  his  bed,  with  his  name  and  disease  written 
on  it.  It  was  a  sad  sight  to  look  upon  the  pale  faces  of 
dying  men  of  Israel.  O  that  “the  great  trumpet  were 
blown  for  those  that  are  ready  to  perish  /”  *  The  expense 
of  this  establishment  was  stated  to  us  at  25 1.  weekly, 
which  is  defrayed  by  the  interest  of  legacies,  and  by  con¬ 
tributions  from  the  town. 

We  then  went  to  the  new  burying-ground,  opened  in 
1831,  when  the  cholera  made  its  ravages  in  this  country, 
at  which  time,  for  a  space  of  three  months,  there  were 
in  Brody  150  deaths  every  day.  The  extensive  bury¬ 
ing-ground  is  already  half-filled  up,  although  the  tombs 
are  thickly  planted  together.  The  monuments  are 
of  a  soft  chalky  stone,  and  most  of  them  adorned 
with  curious  emblems.  The  stone  is  generally  paint¬ 
ed,  and  the  epitaph  is  of  a  bright  colour,  or  sometimes 
in  letters  of  gold.  One  had  a  crown  painted  on  it, 


with  the  words  aiu  op  nro  (kether  shem  tov),  “the 
crown  of  a  good  name.”  Another  had  a  cup  and  platter 


*  Isa.  xxvii.  13. 


JEWISH  BURYING-GROUND. 


455 


marking  the  grave  of  a  Levite,  who  poured  water  on  the 


hands  of  the  priests.  The  outspread  hands  were  fre¬ 
quent,  marking  the  tomb  of  a  Cohen  or  priest,  with  the 
words  ouro  nro  (kether  kohanim),  “  the  crown  of  the 
priesthood.”  One  stone  had  two  lighted  candles  painted 
on  it,  and  another  had  a  golden  candlestick.  The  grave 
of  a  lady  of  wealth,  who  in  her  lifetime  had  gone  on  a 


pilgrimage  to  Palestine,  was  marked  by  the  figure  of  a 
ship  on  the  sea,  and  Noah’s  dove  flying  towards  it.  A 
gate  broken  off  its  hinges  and  in  the  act  of  falling,  repre¬ 
sented  the  door  of  the  ark  in  the  synagogue  rent  in 
mourning  for  some  eminent  worshipper,  who  had  been 
mother  of  a  numerous  family.  A  hand  holding  an  open 


456  BRODY — TEPHILLIN — MEZUZAH — TALLITH. 

book,  showed  the  tomb  of  an  author.  A  hand,  pouring 
water  out  of  one  vessel  into  another,  was  painted  on  the 
tomb  of  a  woman  who  used  to  carry  water  for  the  syna¬ 
gogue.  One  monument  had  a  painting  of  Abraham’s 
house  in  the  plains  of  Mamre,  surrounded  by  oak-trees, 
with  his  flocks  feeding  near ;  it  covered  the  grave  of  a 
man  named  Abraham.  A  house  and  a  human  heart,  a 
lion,  a  roe,  an  eagle,  a  palm-tree,  and  many  such  like, 
were  very  common  emblems.  The  whole  scene  brought 
forcibly  to  our  remembrance  the  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
to  the  Pharisees,  “Ye  build  the  tombs  of  the  prophets, 
and  garnish  the  sepulchres  of  the  righteous .”  *  The  same 
spirit  remains  in  Israel  to  this  very  day.  Standing  with 
us  among  the  tombs,  our  Jewish  guide  gave  us  an  affect¬ 
ing  account  of  the  death  of  Rabbi  Landau,  whose  pic¬ 
ture  we  had  so  often  seen  in  Jewish  houses.  He  came 
from  Lemberg  when  the  cholera  was  raging,  and  visited 
this  burying-ground,  where  he  prayed  very  earnestly 
over  the  graves  of  the  rabbis,  asking  of  them  forgive¬ 
ness,  and  promising  to  be  with  them  soon.  He  returned 
to  town,  sickened,  and  died;  and  next  day  was  buried. 

In  the  evening,  we  went  to  the  shop  of  a  Jew,  and 
bought  Fephillin  or  phylacteries,  the  broadest  which  he 
had.  These  consist  of  little  scrolls  of  parchment,  in 
which  are  written  certain  passages  of  the  law,  enclosed 
in  two  black  leather  boxes,  which  are  bound  by  leather 
thongs  on  the  forehead  and  left  hand,  during  the  time  of 
prayer.  It  was  to  these  that  our  Lord  alluded  when  re¬ 
proving  the  Pharisees,  “  All  their  works  they  do  for  to 
be  seen  of  men ;  they  make  broad  their  phylacteries .” 
We  got  also  the  mezuzah ,  a  small  scroll  of  parchment, 
on  which  a  portion  of  the  law  is  written,  with  the  name 
of  God  on  the  back  in  transposed  letters,  which  is  folded 
up  and  nailed  obliquely  on  the  door-post  of  every  Jewish 
house.  Both  of  these  superstitions  are  derived  from  a 
misinterpretation  of  the  command  in  Deuteronomy,  “And 
thou  shaft  bind  them  for  a  sign  upon  thine  hand,  and 
they  shall  be  as  frontlets  between  thine  eyes ;  and  thou 
shaft  write  them  upon  the  posts  of  thy  house,  and  on  thy 
gates.”!  The  natural  heart  in  all  ages  and  in  all  nations, 
is  well  pleased  to  substitute  mere  external  observances 
in  the  place  of  spiritual  heart-religion.  We  afterwards 
purchased  a  Tallith,  a  white  woollen  shawl,  striped  with 
blue  at  the  edge,  and  having  white  fringes  called  Tsitsith 


*  Matt,  xxiii.  29. 


t  Deut.  vi.  8,  9. 


COMMISSARY  OF  POLICE — YOUNG  JEW.  457 

at  the  four  corners.  The  Jews  wear  this  over  their 
head  during  prayer,  while  they  hold  the  fringes  in  their 
hands,  and  frequently  kiss  them  in  obedience  to  the  com¬ 
mandment,  “  Speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  and  bid 
them  that  they  make  them  fringes  in  the  borders  of  their 
garments .”  *  The  Saviour  also  alludes  to  them,  “  they 
enlarge  the  borders  of  their  garments .”  f  Upon  the  part 
which  comes  over  the  forehead,  the  Jews  often  wear  a 
band  of  silver  embroidery.  A  Jewess  who  had  been 
employed  to  prepare  the  Tallith  for  us,  refused  to  sew 
the  embroidered  band  upon  the  robe,  unless  we  procured 
for  her  a  silk  ribband  to  put  between  them,  alleging,  that 
otherwise  she  would  be  breaking  the  law,  which  forbids 
them  to  mingle  “  woollen  and  linen  ”  together.^ 

(Oct.  4.)  Early  this  forenoon,  we  were  sent  for  by  the 
Commissary  of  Police,  a  sharp  bustling  Austrian,  with  a 
pipe  in  his  mouth,  who  examined  us  very  roughly.  We 
believe  that  they  had  suspicions  of  our  being  missiona¬ 
ries,  and  in  order  to  entrap  us,  alleged  that  we  were  Jews 
travelling  under  a  false  passport.  The  Commissary  held 
a  letter  in  his  hand,  which  he  had  received  from  Jaglin- 
sky,  stating  that  we  went  into  the  synagogue  there,  and 
joined  in  the  Jewish  prayers,  even  using  “  Hear,  O  Israel, 
the  Lord  thy  God  is  one  God.”  “  And  further,”  added 
he,  “  why  did  you  buy  Tephillin  last  night  1”  We  were 
somewhat  perplexed  as  well  as  amused  by  this  attempt 
to  shew  that  we  were  Jews  and  not  Christians,  and  were 
now  made  aware  of  the  system  of  jealous  espionage 
maintained  in  this  kingdom  of  Popish  darkness.  We 
answered  that  we  were 'Protestant  pastors  from  Scot¬ 
land,  and  that  all  ministers  in  our  country  are  instructed 
in  Hebrew  ;  that  we  had  read  in  the  synagogue  only  to 
shew  the  Jews  that  we  knew  their  language ;  and  that 
we  had  bought  the  Tephillin  as  curiosities.  This  seemed 
to  satisfy  him,  and  we  received  our  passports  for  Lem¬ 
berg;  “only,”  he  said,  “you  must  go  by  Zloozow.” 

In  paying  a  second  visit  to  the  two  principal  syna¬ 
gogues,  we  met  with  a  young  man  belonging  to  one  of 
the  best  Jewish  families,  who  requested  an  interview  at 
the  inn.  His  name  was  Moses  Weitheit,  of  a  very  plea¬ 
sing  appearance,  gentle  and  serious  in  his  manners,  and 
able  to  speak  Latin  freely,  and  a  little  Italian.  He  said 

*  Num.  xv.  38, 39.  Deut.  xxii.  12. 

t  Matt,  xxiii.  5.  This  is  said  to  be  the  hem,  of  His  garment  which  the 
woman  touched,  Matt.  ix.  20. 

t  Lev.  xix.  19. 


458  BRODY — DETENTION  AT  CUSTOM-HOUSE. 

he  belonged  to  the  New  School,  and  yet  believed  the 
Scriptures  to  be  the  word  of  God.  He  did  not  look  for 
the  restoration  of  the  Jews  to  the  Holy  Land,  thought  the 
emancipation  of  the  Jews  was  to  be  their  Messiah,  and 
that  true  religion  consisted  in  the  natural  feeling  of  love 
to  God.  His  mind  was  evidently  not  at  rest ;  he  had 
never  read  the  New  Testament,  and,  though  he  under¬ 
stood  the  law,  could  not  understand  the  Psalms  and 
Prophets.  When  we  shewed  him  a  small  New  Testa¬ 
ment  in  German,  he  earnestly  entreated  us  to  leave  it 
with  him ;  and  when  we  told  him  that  were  we  to  do  so, 
the  circumstance  might  come  to  the  ears  of  the  Police, 
in  which  event  we  should  be  detained  and  brought 
into  trouble,  he  immediately  declared  that  he  would 
shew  it  to  no  one  till  we  were  gone.  Hiding  it  in  the 
bosom  of  his  Polish  gown,  he  said  “  Nemo  sciet ,  nemo 
sciet !” — “no  one  shall  know.”  We  complied  with  his 
request,  and  could  not  but  breathe  a  prayer  that  he 
might  be  enabled  to  draw  living  water  out  of  this  foun¬ 
tain,  in  a  wilderness  where  blind  guides  tremble  lest  one 
drop  from  heaven  should  fall  on  the  thirsty  soul.  He 
kept  his  promise,  but  we  soon  found  that  our  caution 
was  needful,  and  the  suspicions  of  the  Austrians  con¬ 
cerning  us  were  not  removed. 

Having  hired  a  comfortable  vehicle  to  carry  us  to 
Lemberg,  we  intended  to  set  out  before  the  gates  were 
shut  for  the  night  and  accordingly  drove  up  to  the  cus¬ 
tom-house.  But  here  we  were  detained  for  three  hours, 
which  the  custom-house  officers  and  soldiers  spent  in 
making  complete  search  into  every  article  we  had  with 
us.  Not  a  corner  of  the  carriage  escaped  their  strict, 
suspicious  search  ;  every  thing  except  what  was  on  our 
person  was  examined.  Every  book,  in  whatever  lan¬ 
guage,  was  taken  from  us,  even  our  Hebrew  and  Eng¬ 
lish  Bibles ;  and  we  were  left  the  alternative  of  allowing 
them  to  be  sent  to  Lemberg,  to  be  examined  by  the 
Censor  there,  and  waiting  for  his  opinion  on  their  ortho¬ 
doxy,  or  of  at  once  allowing  ourselves  to  be  deprived  of 
their  use  until  we  should  be  beyond  the  dominions  of 
Austria.  On  our  preferring  the  latter  alternative,  they 
agreed  to  seal  up  our  books  in  a  parcel  and  send  them 
on  to  Cracow,  to  await  our  arrival.  When  we  pleaded 
to  be  allowed  to  retain  our  English  Bible,  the  only  answer 
we  received  was,  “It  is  not  allowed  in  Austria.”  We 
were  still  further  annoyed  by  their  finding  several  sealed 
’etters  of  introduction  to  Consuls  and  others  lying  in  our 


DEPARTURE  FROM  BRODY. 


459 


desk :  and  on  account  of  which  they  imposed  a  fine  upon 
us.  The  greater  our  annoyance,  the  greater  the  satis¬ 
faction  of  the  officers  appeared  to  be.  They  seemed  to 
feel  that  it  was  not  every  day  two  Protestant  ministers 
were  in  their  grasp.  We  were  not  allowed  to  leave  that 
night,  and  therefore  lodged  in  a  Jewish  khan  near  the 
gate.  Here  we  experienced  several  painful  proofs  of  the 
rapacity  of  the  Jewish  people.  The  keepers  of  the  khan, 
seeing  our  anxiety  to  depart  next  morning,  threw  every 
obstacle  in  our  way,  charging  two  or  three  prices  for 
every  article  we  had  used,  and  striving  in  every  way  to 
extort  money  from  us.  We  could  only  pray  that  the 
prophecy  of  Zephaniah  might  be  soon  fulfilled,  “The 
remnant  of  Israel  shall  not  do  iniquity,  nor  speak  lies ; 
neither  shall  a  deceitful  tongue  be  found  in  their  mouthy  * 

(Oct.  5.)  We  at  last  got  away,  about  midday,  and  en¬ 
joyed  a  pleasant  drive  through  a  well-cultivated  plain, 
with  gently  swelling  hills  on  the  left,  the  young  wheat 
springing  fresh  and  green.  About  five  miles  from  Brody 
the  country  became  more  varied.  The  road  lay  through 
the  estate  of  a  Polish  Count ;  the  woods  were  finely  kept, 
and  at  that  time  tinged  with  the  red  and  brown  of  au¬ 
tumn.  The  castle  and  neighbouring  village  are  called 
Potchoritz,  and  there  are  two  churches,  the  one  a  rude 
structure,  the  other  beautiful,  situated  on  the  top  of  a 
wooded  eminence.  In  front  of  the  latter  there  is  a 
whole  range  of  pillars,  each  supporting  the  figure  of  a 
saint ;  and  the  large  square  of  the  village  has  in  the  midst 
of  it  a  high  pillar,  with  a  figure  of  the  Virgin  on  the  top. 

At  three  o’clock,  we  rested  a  little  in  a  clean  inn  be¬ 
longing  to  the  village  of  Sassow,  where  we  found  a  small 
synagogue  of  wood,  and  200  Jewish  families,  all  of  the 
old  school,  and  hoping  for  the  Messiah.  Their  burying- 
ground,  filled  with  plain,  white  tombstones,  was  at  the 
entrance  of  the  village.  Here,  too,  was  a  curious  speci¬ 
men  of  the  old  Polish  church  and  belfry,  both  entirely  of 
wood.  At  the  inn  we  met  a  Tyrolese,  wearing  the  tall 
conical  cap  of  his  country,  who  had  lately  travelled  to 
Palestine  in  the  service  of  an  Englishman,  and  was  very 
communicative.  The  Polish  hartsmi ,  or  inn,  is  a  curious 
long  building,  having  a  wide  entrance  at  both  ends,  so 
that  you  drive  in  at  one  end,  and  in  leaving  drive  out  at 
the  other.  Within,  there  are  stalls  for  twenty  or  thirty 
horses  on  each  side  of  the  building,  and  a  few  rooms  at 


*  Zepli.  iii.  13. 


460  SASSOW — POLISH  INN  OR  HART3MI — ZLOOZOW. 


the  one  end,  affording  tolerable  accommodation  to  the 
weary  traveller  The  only  bed  is  a  heap  of  straw  en¬ 


closed  in  a  frame,  over  which  they  sometimes  spread  a 
sheet,  while  your  own  mats  and  cloaks  are  your  covering. 

Leaving  this  village,  the  fields  were  beautifully  tinged 
with  a  reddish-brown,  from  the  colour  of  the  stalk  of  the 
ret  sky,  which  had  been  here  cut  down.  About  six  in 
the  evening  we  came  to  Zloozow,  a  large  village,  with 
three  handsome  churches.  Here  we  found  out  that  it 
was  not  without  some  design  that  the  Commissary  at 
Brody  had  caused  us  to  get  our  passports  signed  here, 
instead  of  sending  us  on  direct  to  Lemberg;  for  we  were 
met  at  the  entrance  of  the  village  by  a  Government  offi¬ 
cer,  who  was  waiting  to  conduct  us  to  the  Kreisamter , 
or  superintendent  of  police.  This  person  was  an  ex¬ 
ceedingly  pleasant,  intelligent  man,  and  could  speak  Eng¬ 
lish  fluently,  having  been  much  in  the  company  of  English 
residents  in  Vienna.  He  engaged  each  of  us  successively 
in  conversation,  and  then  at  once  rose  and  said,  that  we 
should  have  our  passports  without  delay.  While  our 
horses  were  getting  ready,  we  wandered  through  the 
town.  In  front  of  one  of  the  churches  stood  a  "pillar, 
supporting  the  image  of  a  saint  with  the  child  Jesus  in 
his  arms,  with  this  inscription— “  D.  O.  M.  Ex  voto  sta- 
tuam  hanc  Sancto  Joanni  erexit  Francisca  Loeivel ,  anno 
1824”  (?'.  e.  “Francisca  Loewel,  in  the  year  1824,  erected 
this  statue  to  St.  John,  in  fulfilment  of  a  vow.”)  A  poor 
Polish  woman  was  crossing  herself  and  repeating  a 
prayer  as  she  passed  it. 

There  are  said  to  be  500  Jewish  families  here.  We 
met  a  very  serious  and  interesting  Jew  returning  from 
evening  worship,  who  told  us  that  all  the  Jews  of  this 
place  are  Rabbinists,  and  so  superstitious,  that  they  had 
been  ill  pleased  with  him  for  shaving  off  a  small  part  of 


ZOPKA — SABBATH — ATTACK  ON  MR.  M'CHEYNE.  46i 

his  beard.  He  said,  “  he  was  not  one  of  the  New  School, 
yet  he  thought  that  they  did  good  in  many  ways.  As 
for  himself,  he  hoped  that  he  would  be  saved  if  he  kept 
free  from  whatever  his  conscience  condemned,  and.  was 
honest  in  his  trade,  which  very  few  are.”  In  reply,  we 
spoke  of  its  being  the  first  point  in  religion  to  find  a  sin- 
offering,  which  would  cleanse  the  conscience.  He  seem¬ 
ed  serious  and  interested,  but  our  time  was  gone,  and 
we  soon  left  him  and  the  quiet  village  far  behind.  Late 
at  night  we  arrived  at  Zopka,  a  harts  mi  in  a  very  soli¬ 
tary  situation,  kept  by  a  Jewish  family,  who  received  us 
kindly,  and  tried  to  make  us  comfortable. 

(Oct.  6.)  We  enjoyed  a  calm  Sabbath  morning,  the 
day  warm  and  pleasant.  A  range  of  wooded  hills  bound¬ 
ed  the  view  on  the  north,  and  there  were  but  three  cot¬ 
tages  within  sight.  After  morning  worship  we  separated 
for  lonely  meditation,  agreeing  to  meet  at  a  certain  hour. 
We  did  not  at  the  time  know  that  Galicia  has  frequently 
been  the  scene  of  violent  robberies  and  atrocious  mur¬ 
ders  ;  but  the  little  we  had  seen,  and  afterwards  saw,  of 
the  natives,  convinced  us  of  their  profound  ignorance 
and  barbarous  habits. 

Mr.  M‘Cheyne  having  gone  about  a  mile  and  a  half 
toward  the  hills,  sat  down  to  read  in  a  sequestered  spot, 
when  two  Polish  shepherds  came  and  sat  down  beside 
him.  After  trying  in  vain  to  exchange  ideas  with  them 
by  signs,  Mr.  M.  rose  to  leave  them,  but  they  showed  a 
determination  to  detain  him  by  putting  themselves  in  his 
way,  and  endeavouring  to  force  him  up  into  the  woods 
that  crowned  the  hills.  A  desperate  struggle  ensued  for 
about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  till,  exhausted  by  these  vio¬ 
lent  efforts,  Mr.  M.  lay  down  on  the  ground.  They 
stood  by,  and  spoke  together  for  a  few  minutes — then 
suddenly  plunged  into  the  woods.  It  seems  every  way 
probable  that  they  intended  to  plunder  him ;  and  some 
of  the  people  at  the  inn  wondered  that  they  had  not 
drawn  their  large  knives.  What  moved  them  so  sud¬ 
denly  to  depart  we  could  not  conjecture.  We  felt  that 
the  hand  of  God,  that  had  delivered  us  out  of  so  many 
dangers  during  our  previous  wanderings,  had  been  emi¬ 
nently  stretched  out  again.  The  rest  of  the  day  we 
spent  together.  Our  host  provided  us  with  his  Hebrew 
Bible,  and  we  had  retained  an  English  New  Testament 
in  one  of  our  pockets,  so  that  we  enjoyed  a  profitable 
Sabbath,  realizing  the  promise,  “  Yet  will  I  be  to  them 
as  a  little  sanctuary  in  the  countries  where  they  shall 


462  FREMYSLAW— FAMOUS  RABBI — RABBI  GF  RUGEN. 

come.”  *  Wagons,  heavily  laden  with  merchandise,  were 
passing  along  the  road  all  day  without  intermission ;  for 
a  Sabbath  of  holy  rest  is  a  thing  unknown  in  the  domin¬ 
ions  of  the  Man  of  Sin. 

Our  Jewish  host  told  us  of  a  town  called  Premyslaw, 
two  German  miles  distant,  so  thoroughly  devoted  to  Ju¬ 
daism,  that  no  Jew  dare  appear  on  its  streets  unless 
dressed  entirely  in  the  Jewish  manner,  for  fear  the  Cha¬ 
sidim  should  tear  him  to  pieces.  Only  a  short  time  ago 
it  was  a  very  insignificant  town,  but  prosperity  came  to 
it  with  a  certain  great  rabbi.  This  rabbi  is  one  of  those 
to  whom  the  people  repair  from  all  Bukovine  and  Gali¬ 
cia  in  times  of  sickness  and  distress,  asking  him  to  pray 
for  them.  They  always  go  as  Saul  did  to  Samuel, f  with 
some  present  in  their  hand,  which  they  call  (pn£>,  pe- 
deeon)  a  ransom.  The  week  before  our  arrival  one  man 
brought  him  a  sum  equal  to  6Z.,  seeking  to  be  delivered 
from  some  calamity ;  and  during  the  Feasts,  no  less  than 
3000  persons  have  been  known  to  visit  him,  each  bring¬ 
ing  a  present.  He  has  in  consequence  become  very  rich, 
and  frequently  entertains  500  Jews  at  his  table,  spending 
even  SOI.  a-week  in  supporting  his  dignity.  He  assumes 
the  character  of  a  prophet,  pretending  to  have  know¬ 
ledge  of  future  events,  and  to  divine  the  particular  sins 
of  any  one  by  looking  stedfastly  in  his  face.  How  appli¬ 
cable  to  such  a  man  are  the  words  of  Jeremiah — “  I  have 
not  sent  these  prophets,  yet  they  ran ;  I  have  not  spoken 
to  them,  yet  they  prophesied.”!  Our  host  told  us  also 
of  a  visit  which  the  now  imprisoned  Rabbi  of  Rugen 
paid  to  this  part  of  the  country  about  four  years  ago. 
He  travelled  with  three  carriages  of  his  own,  and  the 
Jews  flocked  to  him  in  such  crowds,  that  more  than  700 
vehicles  were  upon  the  road,  either  accompanying  or 
going  to  meet  him.  He  slept  at  this  inn  on  his  way  from 
Brody  to  Lemberg.  The  crowd  of  Jews  that  visited  him 
was  such  that  he  could  hardly  get  rest,  and  many 
came  to  look  upon  his  face  while  he  was  sleeping.  So 
great  was  the  excitement,  that  the  Austrian  Government 
became  alarmed  and  ordered  him  to  leave  the  country 
in  three  days.  The  mother  of  the  innkeeper  had  often 
visited  this  rabbi,  seeking  peace  to  her  conscience.  We 
showed  them  the  Psalm,  “None  of  them  can  oy  any 
means  redeem  his  brother,  nor  give  to  God  a  ransom 


*  Ezek.  xi.  1G. 


t  1  Sam.  ix.  9. 


t  Jer.  xxiii.  21. 


FEATURES  OF  THE  COUNTRY.  463 

for  him ;  *  and  the  command  of  God,  “  Cali  upon  me  in 
the  day  of  trouble.”  f 

(Oct.  7.)  We  left  the  place  before  daylight.  During  a 
ride  of  four  hours  to  Lemberg,  there  was  no  object  of  in¬ 
terest  except  a  beautiful  village  called  Veniky,  surround¬ 
ed  by  wooded  hills,  the  trees  all  variegated  with  the  tints 
of  autumn.  There  were  many  Jews  on  the  street,  and 
Polish  peasants,  whose  hard,  unmeaning  countenances 


POLISH  WOMAN  CARRYING  WATER. 

indicated  ignorance  and  neglect.  Before  entering  Lem¬ 
berg  we  were  examined  at  the  custom-house,  where 
many  wagons  were  undergoing  a  strict  scrutiny.  One 
man  had  a  cart  of  sticks ;  a  soldier  passing  by  chose  one 
of  the  best,  and  carried  it  off  as  a  prize ;  the  man  resist¬ 
ed,  and  entreated  him  not  to  take  it,  but  in  vain;  the 
soldier  only  threatened  him  and  beat  him  off.  This  little 
incident  showed  us  something  of  the  military  oppression 
common  in  this  country.  Descending  upon  the  town,  we 
came  once  more  upon  paved  streets,  handsome  houses, 
and  other  marks  of  European  civilization.  The  upper 
classes  were  attired  very  much  after  the  English  fashion, 
except  that  the  ladies  wore  no  bonnet,  but  carried  a  di¬ 
minutive  parasol  instead.  We  found  a  quiet  and  com¬ 
fortable  lodging  in  the  Hotel  de  Russie. 

Lemberg  is  a  large  city,  having  130,000  inhabitants;  it 
lies  in  a  fine  valley,  running  nearly  north  and  south,  the 


*  Ps,  xlix.  7. 


f  Pe.  I.  15. 


464 


LEMBERG — JEWISH  MARKET-PLACE. 


hills  on  either  side  being  of  considerable  elevation.  On 
the  east  the  hill  is  laid  out  so  as  to  form  a  fine  drive  or 
promenade.  From  the  summit  we  obtained  a  command¬ 
ing  view  of  the  town  and  environs.  The  houses  are  high 
and  well  built ;  the  streets  and  squares  are  open  and  airy. 
There  is  one  very  handsome  church  on  the  rising  ground 
to  the  west,  and  ten  other  spires  rise  over  the  buildings 
of  the  town.  There  are  several  pleasant  walks  and  bou¬ 
levards,  adorned  with  fine  trees,  in  the  heart  of  the  town. 
There  are  barracks,  and  other  large  and  elegant  public 
buildings,  especially  one  with  a  fountain  at  each  of  the 
four  corners,  and  over  each  fountain  the  statue  of  a  hea¬ 
then  goddess.  An  immense  theatre  was  in  the  course 
of  being  built;  the  bricks  were  conveyed  to  the  builders 
on  the  wall  by  a  row  of  boys  and  women,  standing  on 
the  steps  of  a  very  tall  ladder,  who  handed  up  each  brick 
from  one  to  another.  Looking  to  the  east,  we  observed 
the  tents  of  a  large  body  of  soldiers,  who  were  then  un¬ 
der  review,  all  pitched  in  military  order.  But  the  coun¬ 
try  in  that  direction  appeared  bleak  and  uninteresting. 
While  we  were  standing  here,  a  train  of  splendid  carri¬ 
ages  swept  past,  containing  the  Archduke  of  Austria  and 
several  officers,  fine-looking  men,  in  handsome  uniforms, 
the  former  wearing  a  dazzling  star  on  the  breast.  Re¬ 
turning  through  the  city  we  passed  a  church,  having  a 
figure  of  the  Virgin,  with  this  truly  Popish  inscription 
over  it,  “  Praetereundo  cave  ne  taceatur  Ave.”  *  Rows 
of  wooden  stalls  instead  of  shops  are  as  common  here  as 
at  Czernowitz.  Three  regiments  of  well-disciplined  sol¬ 
diers  passed  us  on  their  return  from  exercise.  W"e  were 
told  that  there  were  30,000  encamped  within  three  miles 
of  the  city.  One  painful  sight,  which  reminded  us  of 
Italy,  was  the  vast  numbers  of  criminals  who  are  con¬ 
demned  to  public  infamy  by  labouring  in  chains  upon 
the  streets.  They  are  used  in  building  and  other  kinds 
of  hard  labour  through  the  day,  and  we  saw  120  of  them 
returning  at  night  to  their  prison,  dragging  heavy  fetters 
after  them. 

We  visited  the  Jewish  market-place,  but  did  not  find  it 
so  clean  and  pleasant  as  that  of  Brody.  Israel  here  looks 
poor,  oppressed,  and  degraded,  dwelling  in  the  dust. 
The  Russian  fur-cap  or  broad  black  hat  and  black  Polish 
robe  are  beautiful  on  respectable  Jews  with  clean  flow- 

*  “  In  passing  by,  beware, 

Lest  thou  forget  this  prayer, 

Ave  Maria.” 


FUNERAL  OF  AN  OLD  JEWESS. 


465 


mg  beards ;  but  when  they  turn  poor,  dirty,  and  ragged, 
then  they  look  squalid  and  desolate  indeed :  and  such 
was  the  appearance  of  the  greater  number  of  the  Jews 
of  Lemberg. 

There  are  two  large  synagogues,  four  smaller  ones, 
and  a  great  many  in  private  houses.  We  visited  one  of 
the  largest,  a  building  in  the  same  Gothic  style  as  that 
of  Brody,  the  roof  supported  by  four  immense  pillars, 
and  the  walls  gaudily  adorned ;  in  the  porch  we  observed 
the  whole  Prayer-book  pasted  up  in  sheets  on  a  board, 
for  the  use  of  the  poor,  as  at  Brody.  We  asked,  if  the 
Jews  ever  sent  money  to  the  Holy  Land  I  One  of  them 
whispered,  “that  such  a  thing  is  forbidden  by  the  Go¬ 
vernment  ;  they  are  not  allowed  to  send  money  out  of 
country.”  Near  sunset,  we  had  the  opportunity  of  wit¬ 
nessing  the  funeral  of  an  old  Jewess.  The  dead  body 
was  carried  on  a  bier,  covered  with  a  black  pall ;  the 
men  in  their  ordinary  clothes  followed,  and  a  throng  of 
women  and  children  brought  up  the  rear.  One  Jew 
walked  immediately  behind  the  bier,  rattling  a  tin  collec¬ 
tion-box,  and  crying  out  in  Hebrew,  every  few  paces, 
“  Alms  deliver  from  death and  the  same  words  were 
embroidered  upon  the  pall.  In  obedience  to  this  sum¬ 
mons,  many  Jews  put  in  pieces  of  money  as  they  went 
along,  and  the  money  thus  collected  goes  to  the  Hebra 
or  burying-society.  At  the  gate  of  the  burying-ground, 
one  woman  uttered  a  loud  and  piercing  cry,  which  she 
continued  as  they  proceeded.  Arriving  at  a  small  portico 
or  covered  walk  in  the  grave-yard,  they  set  down  the 
bier,  and  uncovered  the  face  of  the  dead.  All  the  rela¬ 
tions  gathered  round,  and  bending  over  the  corpse,  till 
their  lips  almost  touched  the  lips  of  the  deceased,  entreat¬ 
ed  her  to  forgive  them  if  they  had  injured  her  in  any 
way.  After  this,  they  proceeded  to  the  grave,  and  the 
body  alone  was  lowered  down  into  it,  with  the  face  un¬ 
covered.  Several  of  the  women  now  joined  in  a  loud 
and  bitter  wail,  but  their  tears  and  lamentations  were 
only  feigned,  for  at  one  time  they  appeared  very  lugu¬ 
brious,  then,  all  of  a  sudden,  they  stopped  and  began  to 
scold,  or  appeared  utterly  careless.  They  were  specimens 
of  “  the  mourning-  woman”  mentioned  in  the  Scriptures.* 
A  white  linen  pillow  was  next  produced,  to  be  laid  under 
the  head  of  the  deceased,  on  which  there  was  a  scramble 
among  the  women  which  would  be  the  foremost  in  filling 
it  with  earth.  The  scene  of  asking  forgiveness  from  the 
*  See  Jer.  ix.  17.  and  Matt.  xi.  17. 


466  LEMBERG — JEWISH  HOSPITAL — POPULATION. 

dead  woman  was  renewed  with  great  vehemence,  and 
many  besought  her  when  she  came  before  God,  to  pray 
for  them  and  for  their  children.  The  Hazen  or  chanter, 
being  hired  by  the  relatives  for  the  purpose,  stood  by  the 
open  grave,  and  repeated  many  prayers  for  the  dead. 
This  done,  the  body  was  covered  in,  and  the  company 
returned  to  the  portico,  where  the  eldest  son,  standing  in 
the  midst,  read,  from  off  a  board  hung  on  the  wall, 
another  prayer  for  his  dead  mother ;  in  which  he  was 
assisted  by  the  chanter,  for  we  were  assured  that  he 
scarcely  understood  a  word  of  it.  Before  leaving  the 
burying-ground,  each  individual  washed  his  hands  in 
water  that  stood  in  earthen  jars  near  the  gate  for  this 
purpose ;  for  the  Jews  believe  that  evil  spirits  hover 
about  the  grave-yard,  and  would  have  access  to  them, 
if  they  were  at  all  defiled  by  the  dead  body.  The  Jew¬ 
ish  hospital,  a  large  commodious  building,  looks  into  the 
burying-ground,  where  were  several  of  the  sick,  walking 
to  and  fro  before  the  door,  and  others  at  the  windows, 
gazing  on  the  sad  spectacle  of  death  that  had  passed. 

According  to  the  last  census,  the  number  of  Jewish 
families  in  Lemberg  was  3000,  or  nearly  15,000  souls; 
but  there  is  good  reason  to  think  that  there  are  far  more 
actually  resident  in  that  town.  That  they  are  an  impor¬ 
tant  class  here  may  be  ascertained  from  the  fact,  that  the 
advertisements  at  the  Post-office  are  in  the  Hebrew 
character,  as  well  as  in  the  Polish  and  German  ;  many 
of  the  signboards  also  in  the  streets  are  painted  with 
Hebrew  letters.  There  are  some  Jews  belonging  to  the 
New  School,  but  they  have  no  synagogue.  In  one  old 
synagogue  we  found  in  the  porch  rings  fixed  into  the 
wall,  to  which  are  attached  irons  for  the  neck  and 
feet.  They  were  formerly  used  for  fastening  up  to 
public  view,  persons  who  had  broken  the  regulations  of 
the  Talmud  in  any  material  point;  resembling  very 
much  the  juggs  which  are  yet  to  be  seen  in  some  of 
the  old  parish  churches  of  Scotland.  We  were  a  few 
minutes  too  late  to  see  the  ceremony  of  a  circumcision, 
for  we  met  the  parents  carrying  away  their  child.  But 
we  saw  the  chair  of  Elias,  a  comfortable  chair  beside  the 
table  where  the  circumcision  is  performed.  It  gets  this 
name  from  the  singular  belief  that  Elijah  comes  unseen 
and  sits  there  at  every  circumcision — probably  in  his 
zeal  to  see  the  law  enforced  to  the  letter.  On  the  back  of 
the  chair  is  inscribed,  “  Throne  of  Elijah — his  memory 


LEMBERG  TO  CRACOW. 


467 


he  for  good .”  We  spoke  with  an  affable  Jew,  who  said, 
that  the  meaning  of  the  passage  which  predicts  that,  in 
the  days  of  Messiah,  “  thy  people  shall  be  all  righteous,” 
was,  there  will  be  no  hypocrites,  all  will  be  openly  good 
or  openly  wicked.  Talking  of  the  days  when  the  Tal¬ 
mud  was  in  its  full  glory,  he  mentioned  to  us  a  Jewish 
proverb — Two  towns  in  Russia,  Kiow  and  Saradow, 
were  so  famous  for  the  study  and  defence  of  the  Talmud, 
that  it  used  to  be  said,  “  From  Saradow  shall  go  forth  the 
law,  and  the  word  of  the  Lord  from  Kiow.”  “Full  well 
do  they  reject  the  commandment  of  God ,  that  they  may 
keep  their  own  traditions.'1'’  * 

(Oct.  8.)  We  left  this  pleasant  town  in  a  tolerable  Jew¬ 
ish  carriage,  an  old  Jew  with  a  long  beard  driving  us.  We 
might  have  got  places  in  the  “ Eil-wagen ”  or  stage-coach, 
but  we  wished  to  be  masters  of  our  own  time,  and  there¬ 
fore  preferred  the  offer  of  this  Jew,  who  undertook  to 
carry  us  the  whole  way  to  Cracow,  a  distance  of  nearly 
200  English  miles,  for  45  gulden,  equal  to  £4.  10s. 

The  country  through  which  we  travelled  reminded  us 
of  the  vast  undulating  plains  of  France,  fertile  but  un¬ 
interesting,  with  a  long  level  road  stretching  before. 
The  young  crops  were  springing,  and  the  peasants  gath¬ 
ering  their  potatoes  as  we  passed.  In  three  hours  we 
came  to  Grudak,  a  pleasant  village,  containing  a  council- 
house  and  two  churches,  adorned  with  shady  walks  and 
a  fine  stream  of  water.  Here  we  saw  several  Jews  in 
the  street,  but  had  no  conversation  with  any.  Three 
hours  more  brought  us  to  Sandovawiznia,  a  large  vil¬ 
lage,  also  upon  a  pleasant  stream,  with  two  churches, 
and  many  images  of  saints  under  its  shady  trees.  The 
half  of  the  population  appeared  to  be  Jewish.  Towards 
evening,  we  passed  through  Moschiska,  where  the  prin¬ 
cipal  street  had  an  old  piazza,  under  which  many  Jewish 
children  were  playing,  and  we  were  told  that  there  were 
600  resident  Jews. 

We  slept  at  a  Jewish  khan,  near  a  small  village  called 
Laskovola,  where  are  six  Jewish  families.  Our  hostess 
was  a  simple  Jewess,  asking  a  great  many  questions, 
and  expressing  great  surprise.  The  whole  family  were 
kind,  and  made  us  promise  if  ever  we  came  that  way 
again  not  to  forget  to  visit  them. 

(Oct.  9.)  Next  morning  we  turned  to  the  north,  leaving 
the  main  road  to  get  a  nearer  way,  and  came  on  a  rustic 


*  Mark  vii.  9. 


468 


LEMBERG  TO  CRACOW. 


village,  Bejepee,  close  to  a  nobleman’s  seat.  The  white¬ 
washed  mansion,  the  lawn,  gardens,  and  handsome  trees, 
reminded  us  of  similar  scenes  at  home.  But  they  are 
rare  indeed  in  Poland.  The  wicker  fences  being  kept  in 
good  condition,  formed  a  neat  enclosure,  and  also  an  ex¬ 
cellent  protection  to  the  young  trees.  The  wooden  shed 
full  of  images  in  the  square,  was  absolutely  ridiculous. 
The  whole  land  is  polluted  with  these  abominations, 
sometimes  under  shady  trees,  sometimes  in  glass-cases 
by  the  wayside,  and  it  may  well  be  said,  “  According  to 
the  number  of  thy  cities  are  thy  gods.”  * 

Crossing  the  Saan,  a  tributary  of  the  Vistula,  by  a 
floating  bridge,  we  came  to  Jaroslaw,  a  small  town  con¬ 
taining  1200  families,  with  several  churches,  a  few  public 
buildings,  and  a  busy  market-place.  We  saw  many 
respectable  Jews  upon  the  street,  and  many  Catholic 
priests.  In  the  suburb  stands  a  handsome  convent,  with 
three  spires,  and  above  the  principal  entrance  a  painting 
of  the  Virgin  Mary,  spreading  her  hands  over  the  monks 
of  the  order  kneeling  round  her,  having  this  inscription, 
“  Sub  tuum  presidium  ”  “  Under  thy  protection.”  How 
truly  may  a  Jew  call  such  Christianity  by  the  name  of 
foul  idolatry ! 

We  now  travelled  due  west,  through  rows  of  willows, 
oaks,  and  elms,  for  miles  together,  till  we  came  to  Ze- 
worsk,  a  village  with  a  covered  walk  in  the  market¬ 
place,  where  Jews  were  loitering.  A  neat  obelisk  marked 
the  entrance  to  some  baron’s  country-seat,  and  a  tempo¬ 
rary  triumphal  arch,  adorned  with  leaves,  intimated  the 
expected  approach  of  some  of  the  Royal  family.  We 
noticed  here  a  broom  erected  at  several  doors,  to  show 
that  a  soldier  was  billeted  there.  The  beggars  were  very 
loathsome  and  deformed,  and  some,  to  prove  that  they 
were  Christian,  not  Jewish  beggars,  led  a  pig  hehind 
them  by  a  string  !  Even  a  wretched  beggar  in  Poland 
is  careful  not  to  be  mistaken  for  a  Jew, 

In  the  evening  we  drove  through  Lanshut,  and,  late  at 
night,  crossed  a  deep  stream,  and  entered  the  town  of 
Rzezow,  about  half-way  between  Lemberg  and  Cracow. 

(Oct.  10.)  We  left  this  clean,  well-built  town  very 
early,  and  pursued  our  way  through  avenues  of  trees,  till 
we  reached  the  village  of  Zenzow,  where  a  company  of 
Austrian  soldiers  were  exercising.  We  saw  many  idle 
Jews,  and  signboards  in  the  Hebrew  character. 


*  Jer.  xi.  13. 


JEWISH  KHAN. 


469 


An  hour  after,  we  came  to  Ropsitza,  a  decayed  village. 
The  market-place  had  (as  usual)  a  piazza  all  round  the 
square,  and  a  covered  well  in  the  centre.  At  one  end 
of  the  church  was  a  singular  “  house  of  gods.”  There 
were  two  figures  of  Christ  on  the  cross ;  then  images  of 
Christ  and  the  three  disciples  of  Gethsemane  ;  and  lastly 
a  painting  of  the  whole  scene  of  the  Saviour’s  agony  in 
the  garden  ;  all  the  figures  being  as  large  as  life.  There 
are  sixty  Jewish  families  here,  all  poor  mechanics. 

Before  noon,  we  rested  at  a  Jewish  khan  to  partake 
of  mit-tag.  These  khans  or  inns  are  everywhere  to  be 
met  with,  and  are  certainly  peculiar  in  their  kind,  though 
comfort  is  seldom  one  of  their  qualities.  First,  you 
enter  at  a  large  gate,  and  drive  into  a  long  dark  covered 
stable,  among  horses  and  briscas ;  then  alighting,  you 
proceed  through  a  large  chamber  at  one  end,  which  in¬ 
cludes  the  guest-room,  drinking  and  smoking  rooms, 
kitchen,  bed-room,  all  in  one.  The  things  which  strike  the 
eye  as  peculiarly  Jewish,  are  the  mezuza  on  the  door¬ 
post,  the  misrach  hanging  on  the  eastern  wall,  to  shew  in 
what  direction  Jerusalem  lies,  and  the  brazen  lustre  or 
Sabbath-lamp  suspended  from  the  roof.  In  one  corner  is 
a  fire  without  a  grate,  and  the  dinner  boiling  in  earthen¬ 
ware  cans,  standing  beside  burning  faggots.  Brass  and 
earthen  kitchen  utensils,  bright  and  clean,  adorn  the 
wall ; — and  the  washing-tub  has  its  corner.  Being  a  fami¬ 
ly  room,  there  are  two  tolerable  beds, — serving  for  sofas 
by  day,  a  cradle  also,  and  a  fine  infant  in  its  little  car¬ 
riage.  The  mother  and  daughter  are  preparing  the  food, 
and  the  married  daughter,  with  fine  Jewish  features,  cares 
for  the  children.  The  cow,  unreproved,  is  drinking  out 
of  a  tub,  and  hens  are  wandering  about,  finding  supply  at 
the  feet  of  the  different  guests,  while  one  more  expert  than 
the  rest  is  catching  flies  at  the  window.  Such  was  the 
khan  where  we  rested.  Being  also  a  public  room,  four 
Jews  with  long  beards  were  dining  at  the  end  of  one  long 
table,  while  we  occupied  the  end  of  another,  and  two 
others  were  dining  at  a  chest  of  drawers.  One  Jew  was 
sitting  idly  on  the  cradle ;  several  others,  each  with  a 
German  pipe  in  his  mouth,  wandered  in  and  out ;  while 
two  Gentiles  from  Breslau  stood  trying  to  make  us  un¬ 
derstand  their  German. — In  spite  of  all  appearances,  the 
dinner  was  excellent,  and  the  cost  only  8d.  a-head. 

In  the  afternoon  we  passed  through  Pilsno,  and  soon 
after  met  the  royal  carriages,  accompanied  by  soldiers. 


470  TARNOW — BOCHNIA — NUMBER  OP  BEGGARS. 

A  peasant  on  the  road,  looking  at  the  Jew  who  drove 
our  vehicle,  called  out  to  him  quite  gratuitously,  and  by 
way  of  insult,  “  Verfluchtet  Jude”  “  accursed  Jew” *— 
showing  how  completely  God’s  ancient  people  are  “a 
proverb  and  a  by-word,”  and  how  the  heathen  that  are 
at  ease  “help  forward  their  affliction.” 

After  sunset  we  arrived  at  Tarnow,  where  was  another 
temporary  arch,  and  passed  great  crowds  on  the  streets, 
who  had  been  hailing  the  arrival  of  their  nobles ;  the 
most  were  well-dressed  Jews.  Late  at  night  we  arrived 
at  a  solitary  khan,  not  even  so  comfortable  as  the  one 
described  above..  Two  travellers  had  already  taken 
possession  of  one  part  of  the  floor,  and  were  fast  asleep, 
while  a  Polish  servant  was  sitting  at  the  bar  serving  out 
snaps  to  the  postillions  and  others,  who  called  even  during 
the  night.  We  preferred  to  sleep  in  the  hay-loft,  where 
we  spread  our  mats  for  the  night.  When  we  were  taking 
refreshment,  a  Jewish  girl,  who  had  brought  us  bread 
and  butter,  on  seeing  one  of  us  about  to  take  up  the  knife 
that  lay  on  the  table,  rushed  forward  and  removed  it, 
lest  we,  Gentiles,  should  pollute  the  knife  which  they 
themselves  used.  The  same  damsel,  however,  in  the 
morning  said  we  must  be  good  men  indeed,  having 
visited  the  Holy  Land. 

(Oct.  11.)  A  thick  easterly  fog  overspread  the  country, 
so  that  we  saw  nothing  till  we  came  to  Bochnia,  where 
we  remarked  that  the  number  of  beggars  was  very  great. 
It  was  common  to  meet  with  individuals  of  them  in  the 
country  kneeling  by  the  road-side ;  but  in  towns  they 
move  about  in  crowds.  We  had  entered  a  baker’s  shop 
to  buy  some  provision,  when  forthwith  fully  twenty  as¬ 
sembled  at  the  door,  and  assailed  us  with  their  impor¬ 
tunities  as  we  came  out.  Popery  brings  all  sorts  of 
miseries  in  her  train. 

We  met  with  a  curious  instance  of  superstitious  con¬ 
scientiousness  this  morning  in  the  Jewish  boy,  who  at¬ 
tended  his  father,  the  driver  of  our  vehicle.  We  gave  him 
bread  and  butter  at  breakfast,  but  observed  that  though 

*  Deut.  xxviii.  37.  “A  by  word  among  all  the  nations — however 
different  in  other  respects,  they  act  alike  in  this.  And  no  doubt  this 
Roman  Catholic  would  have  joined  with  the  Greek  of  whom  we  heard 
at  Smyrna  (p.  330),  in  alleging  as  his  reason,  that  the  Jews  were  enemies 
of  Christ.  “Their  adversaries  said,  We  offend  not,  because  they  have 
sinned  against  the  Lord,  the  habitation  of  justice,  even  the  Lord,  the 
hope  of  their  fathers .”  Jer.  !.  7. 


CRACOW— EXAMINATION  OP  TRAVELLERS.  471 

he  looked  eagerly  at  it,  he  laid  it  aside  till  some  hours 
should  elapse.  The  reason  was,  that  he  had  just  eaten 
flesh,  and  if  he  had  immediately  tasted  butter ,  it  would 
have  been  considered  a  violation  of  the  precept,  “  Thou 
shalt  not  seethe  a  kid  in  his  mother’s  milk.”* 

Leaving  the  main  road,  our  vehicle  moved  on,  and  in 
the  afternoon  brought  us  to  Yieliczka,  a  beautiful  village, 
surrounded  with  gardens  and  orchards,  which  fill  the 
bosom  of  a  deep  valley.  It  is  chiefly  famous  for  its  re¬ 
markable  salt-mines,  much  visited  by  travellers.  We 
felt  a  wish  to  examine  its  curiosities,  and  enjoy  its  scene¬ 
ry  ;  but  our  one  object  impelled  us  forward. 

On  reaching  the  neighbouring  height,  Cracow  came  full 
in  view,  about  four  miles  distant,  with  the  deep-flowing 
Vistula  (or  Weichsel)  winding  through  the  plain.  We 
soon  reached  Podgorze  (which  means  “  near  the  boun¬ 
dary”),  the  suburb  of  Cracow  on  the  Austrian  side  of 
the  river.  Our  passports  having  been  examined,  we 
crossed  the  river  on  a  bridge  supported  by  floats,  and, 
entering  the  ancient  capital  of  Poland,  found  a  good  lodg¬ 
ing  in  the  Rosa,  an  inn  kept  by  Joseph  Cnoxes.  No 
sooner  had  we  arrived  than  we  were  subjected,  like  all 
other  travellers,  to  minute  investigation;  indicating  a 
state  of  society  not  over-certain  of  its  own  stability.  The 
following  printed  questions  were  put  to  us  by  the  Police: 


1.  Your  name  and  surname? 

2.  Your  rank,  and  office,  and^employment  ? 

3.  Your  native  country,  and  place  of  birth? 

4.  Your  age? 

5.  Your  religion? 

6.  Your  condition  in  life,  unmarried,  married,  widowed  ? 

7.  From  what  place  you  have  last  come  ? 

8.  How  long  you  propose  to  remain  here  ? 

9.  Did  you  come  alone,  or  had  you  companions? 

10.  Had  you  a  passport? 

11.  Where  do  you  intend  to  go  after  leaving  this? 

It  was  easy  to  answer  all  these  questions,  but  not  easy 
to  forget  the  suspicious  tyrannizing  spirit  exhibited  by 
the  examiners.  No  country  has  freedom  like  our  own, 
because  no  land  on  earth  has  had  the  truth  of  God  so 
fully  preached,  and  so  widely  embraced. 

The  same  evening  we  were  guided  to  the  house  of  the 
Lutheran  minister,  Mr.  Otremba,  a  benevolent  man,  who 


*  F.x.  xxiii.  19. 


472  CRACOW— MR.  HISCOCK,  JEWISH  MISSIONARY. 

received  us  very  kindly,  although  we  afterwards  learned 
that  he  is  neither  orthodox  in  his  views  nor  friendly  to 
the  Jewish  Mission.  From  him  we  learned  that  Dr.  Ger- 
lach,  the  missionary  of  the  London  Jewish  Society,  had 
been  removed  from  this  station  to  Warsaw,  and  had  died 
there  some  months  ago,  but  that  an  English  missionary 
was  now  labouring  among  the  Jews  here. 

Cracow  was  a  very  considerable  city  in  former  days, 
when  it  was  the  capital  of  Poland ;  and  it  still  retains 
many  features  of  majesty.  It  has  not  the  handsome  look 
of  Lemberg,  but  it  has  more  of  the  air  of  antiquity.  The 
houses  are  lofty  and  often  massy,  the  churches  old  and 
picturesque.  The  front  of  one  is  adorned  with  statues 
of  the  saints  as  large  as  life ;  and  another  has  the  scene 
of  the  crucifixion,  in  which  the  figures  are  larger  than 
life.  The  ancient  castle  and  cathedral,  built  upon  the 
same  hill,  rise  over  the  city,  and  these,  along  with  its 
University  and  other  public  buildings,  testify  its  ancient 
greatness.  There  is  a  delightful  promenade,  of  great 
extent,  shaded  with  tall  poplars,  quite  round  the  town, 
adding  greatly  to  its  beauty.  Cracow  is  the  grand  cem¬ 
etery  of  the  ancient  Kings  of  Poland ;  but  when  we  saw 
the  hills  of  Moravia  appearing  in  the  distant  west,  the 
recollection  of  the  many  men  of  God  who  had  been  born 
there,  whose  names  are  inwoven  with  the  triumphs  of 
the  gospel  in  some  of  the  darkest  regions  of  the  world, 
spread  a  holier  interest  over  the  scene  than  could  be 
done  by  all  its  associations  with  Polish  kings. 

(Oct.  12.)  With  some  difficulty  we  found  out  the  resi¬ 
dence  of  the  Jewish  missionary,  the  Rev.  Thomas  His- 
cock,  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England,  whom  we 
soon  found  to  be  “  a  brother  and  companion  in  tribula¬ 
tion,  and  in  the  kingdom  and  patience  of  Jesus  Christ.” 
It  was  truly  an  agreeable  surprise  to  us,  when  we  found 
ourselves  seated  as  if  at  home  with  this  valuable  mis¬ 
sionary,  his  wife,  who  seemed  to  be  indeed  a  handmaid 
of  the  Lord,  and  their  two  children.  They  had  lived  for 
some  years  almost  in  perfect  solitude,  in  the  midst  of 
this  great  city,  hated  by  the  Papists  because  they  were 
Protestants,  and  by  the  Protestants  because  they  had  no 
sympathy  with  their  worldly  spirit  and  Neologian  the¬ 
ology,  so  that  our  coming  made  their  heart  overflow 
with  joy  and  kindness.  Mr.  H.  laboured  first  in  West¬ 
phalia  for  one  year,  wandering  up  and  down  with  a 
knapsack  on  his  back,  visiting  the  Jews,  and  not  with- 


LUTHERAN  CHURCH. 


473 


out  tokens  of  the  Divine  blessing.  Since  that  time, 
he  has  been  stationed  here,  where  the  hardships  which 
he  has  been  called  to  endure  have  been  very  great.  His 
enemies  have  at  different  times  excited  tumults  among 
the  Jews  before  his  window,  that  the  blame  might  fall 
upon  him  in  the  eye  of  the  Government.  He  injured  his 
health  by  a  long  period  of  excessive  exertion  when  teach¬ 
ing  German,  Hebrew,  and  Latin,  to  young  Jews,  in  order 
to  get  an  opportunity  of  preaching  to  them  “all  the 
words  of  this  life.”  Intent  upon  his  Master’s  work,  he 
seldom  loses  an  occasion  afforded  by  a  Jew  calling  upon 
him  in  the  way  of  trade,  of  speaking  to  his  soul ;  and  he 
addresses  the  poorest  and  meanest  whom  he  meets  in 
the  street, — a  thing  which  no  Gentile  here  would  do  on 
any  account.  Often,  too,  he  goes  into  their  shops  to  pur¬ 
chase  small  articles,  simply  in  order  to  gain  a  hearing. 

(Oct.  13.  Sabbath.)  In  the  morning  we  attended  the 
Lutheran  church,  and,  after  the  Liturgy  had  been  read, 
Mr.  Otremba  preached  upon,  “  Cast  thy  burden  on  the 
Lord,” — a  general  discourse,  without  one  doctrinal  state¬ 
ment.  Here  our  best  feelings  were  shocked  by  seeing 
at  one  end  of  the  church  a  bronze  figure  of  the  Saviour 
on  the  Cross,  larger  than  life,  the  veins  and  bones  carved 
in  such  a  way,  that  they  appeared  to  be  starting  through 
the  racked  body.  It  was  brought  from  Breslau,  and 
placed  here  by  the  President  of  the  Senate,  a  Roman 
Catholic  priest,  for  the  purpose  of  excluding  the  Jews 
from  Dr  Gerlach’s  evening  lecture,  by  prejudicing  their 
minds  against  the  Protestants  in  general.  The  present 
clergyman  used  no  efforts  to  prevent  its  introduction. 
The  altar  was  covered  with  a  cloth  of  gold,  and  had  four 
candles  burning  on  it,  with  a  crucifix  on  one  side,  and 
the  brazen  serpent  on  the  other.  The  organ  was  good, 
and  the  singing  fine ;  the  audience  numbered  between 
fifty  and  sixty, — the  men  occupying  one  side  by  them¬ 
selves,  the  women  the  other.  The  minister  stands  at  the 
altar  while  reading  the  Liturgy,  and  the  people  sit  during 
prayer  and  singing.  The  minister  prefaced  his  dis¬ 
course  by  a  short  introduction,  and  then  gave  out  his 
text,  on  the  reading  of  which  all  stood  till  the  words  were 
finished.  They  rise,  also,  at  the  Lord’s  prayer. 

We  met  for  worship  in  the  afternoon,  in  the  mission¬ 
ary’s  room,  where  Mr.  Hiscock  preached  to  us  from 
Matt.  xvi.  13,  “Who  do  men  say  that  I  ami”  In  the 
evening  we  joined  together  in  the  same  place,  a  small 

42 


474  CRACOW— lord’s  SUPPER— PROTESTANTS. 

company  of  five,  in  the  midst  of  a  city  given  over  to 
the  darkness  and  wickedness  of  Popery,  in  “  shewing 
the  Lord’s  death  till  he  come.”  Mr.  M‘Cheyne  conduct¬ 
ed  the  service  in  the  Presbyterian  form,  and  it  was  felt 
by  us  all  as  a  time  of  refreshing  from  the  presence  of  the 
Lord — a  well  of  salvation  “in  a  dry  and  thirsty  land 
where  no  water  is.”  It  was  four  years  since  Mr.  H.  and 
his  wife  had  enjoyed  this  ordinance.  They  do  not  think 
it  right  to  receive  it  at  the  Lutheran  church,  both  on 
account  of  the  error  of  that  church  in  regard  to  consub- 
stantiation,  and  also  on  account  of  its  cold  dead  services, 
They  spend  silent  Sabbaths,  and  yet  are  not  alone,  for 
they  experience  much  joy  in  the  midst  of  their  affhc« 
tions.  The  God  of  the  missionary  is  a  covenant-keep^ 
ing  God,  and  he  gives  them  “  a  hundred-fold  more”  than 
all  they  have  left  behind,  “  with  persecutions.” 

During  our  stay  at  Cracow  we  gathered  a  good  deal 
of  information.  In  regard  to  the  Protestants ,  there  are 
about  600  in  the  city,  and  200  more  in  the  country  round, 
but  the  most  of  them,  it  is  to  be  feared  are  inclined  to 
infidelity.  For  a  year  and  a  half  previous  to  our  visit, 
their  only  public  worship  had  been  a  forenoon  service 
every  Sabbath,  with  a  sermon  of  twenty  minutes’  length. 
Their  minister  lately  had  a  ball  on  Sabbath  evening,  at 
which  eighty  persons  were  present ;  and  such  parties 
are  not  unfrequent.  On  one  occasion,  an  awakened 
Jew,  going  to  the  Lutheran  minister  to  be  examined  for 
baptism,  found  him  playing  at  cards ,  and  was  invited 
to  sit  down  and  join  in  the  game  before  proceeding  to 
any  serious  business.  The  Protestants  often  tell  the 
Jews  here,  that  it  is  quite  as  well  for  them  to  remain  in 
their  Judaism.  What  a  stumbling-block  are  such  Pro¬ 
testants  in  the  way  of  Israel!  “  Wo  unto  you,  Scribes 
and  Pharisees,  hypocrites ;  for  ye  shut  up  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  against  men;  for  ye  neither  go  in  your¬ 
selves,  neither  suffer  ye  them  that  are  entering  to  go 
in.”* 

The  Poles  in  Cracow  are  exceedingly  depraved,  and  im¬ 
morality  is  not  looked  on  as  a  crime.  They  are  always 
seeking  revolution,  and  would  rise  in  revolt  to-morrow  if 
the  Austrians  were  to  retire.  Lying,  stealing,  swearing, 
drinking,  gambling,  and  adultery,  abound.  Not  long  be¬ 
fore  our  visit,  a  fearful  assassination  took  place  in  a  quiet 
part  of  the  town.  A  young  man  was  suspected  as  a  Rus- 


*  Matt,  xxiii.  13. 


GOVERNMENT  IMMORALITY — UNIVERSITY.  475 

sian  spy ;  and  his  body  was  found  with  thirty-five  stabs 
in  it.  We  were  often  reminded  of  the  dark  pictures 
drawn  of  human  nature  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  for  every 
feature  of  it  is  realized  here.  “  There  is  no  truth,  nor 
mercy,  nor  knowledge  of  God  in  the  land:  By  swearing, 
and  lying,  and  killing,  and  stealing,  and  committing 
adultery,  they  break  out,  and  blood  toucheth  blood.”  * 
Masters  in  general  strike  their  servants  unmercifully 
and  men-servants  are  often  lashed  with  the  whip.  At 
one  time  they  were  even  murdered  without  any  inves¬ 
tigation  ever  following.  The  police  publicly  flog  ser¬ 
vants,  male  or  female,  that  are  brought  to  them  by  their 
masters.  The  nobles  oppress  their  vassals  even  more 
cruelly  than  the  Russian  conquerors  have  treated  them ; 
and  the  vassals  in  their  turn  oppress  their  servants  not 
less  severely.  Popery  is  very  strong  here,  and  most  in¬ 
tolerant.  Monasteries  and  nunneries  abound,  and  the 
pi iests  aie  notoriously  abandoned  in  their  lives,  while 
many  of  the  people  are  “mad  upon  their  idols.”  Yet 
among  the  upper  classes  there  is  much  infidelity;  for 
they  despise  Popery  in  their  hearts ;  and  even  among 
the  peasantry,  there  is  scarcely  one  in  a  hundred  that 
will  now  go  down  on  his  knees  in  passing  an  image, 
whereas,  till  within  these  few  years,  every  one  invariably 
did  so.  Cracow  is  governed  nominally  by  a  Senate, 
composed  of  eight  members  and  a  president,  two  of 
whom  are  Roman  Catholic  priests ;  but  as  every  matter 
must  receive  the  sanction  of  the  three  Residents  of  Aus¬ 
tria,  Russia,  and  Prussia,  the  protecting  powers,  they  in 
reality  govern.  Indeed,  Austria  seems  to  have  the  whole 
power  in  her  own  hands.  The  Austrian  soldiers  took 
possession  of  the  city  three  years  previously,  and  have 
occupied  it  ever  since. 

The  university  is  said  to  be  the  oldest  in  Europe,  ex¬ 
cept  that  of  Oxford.  It  might  be  a  very  efficient  institu¬ 
tion,  were  it  not  that  the  Austrians  are  unfavourable  to  it, 
believing  that  it  sows  the  seeds  of  revolution  among  the 
young  men.  Many  students  belonging  to  the  best  Polish 
families  are  very  desirous  to  learn  English,  and  Mr.  His- 
cock  told  us  that,  if  we  would  send  him  fifty  English 
Bibles,  he  could  distribute  them  profitably  to  these  young 
men.  Since  our  return,  the  Edinburgh  Bible  Society,  at 
our  request,  kindly  engaged  to  send  this  supply  to  Cra¬ 
cow.  We  were  interested  in  hearing  that  Mr.  Dow, 
who  was  deposed  some  years  ago  from  the  ministry  in 

*  Hos.  iv.  1.  2. 


476 


CRACOW — JEWS. 


Scotland  for  following  Mr.  Irving’s  views,  had  paid  a 
visit  to  Mr.  Hiscock,  not  long  before  our  arrival;  but 
with  what  object  we  could  not  learn.  He  had  come 
from  Russia,  and  Mr.  H.  believed  went  to  Odessa. 

The  upper  classes  are  dressed  very  much  after  the 
English  manner,  but  the  common  people  wear  a  white 
surtout  with  red  lining,  a  broad  hat,  and  long  boots.  The 
women  wear  a  white  coarse  stuff,  with  the  handkerchief 
round  the  head,  red  or  white.  The  Jews  wear  the  fur- 
cap  and  long  black  robe,  generally  very  squalid  and 
torn,  said  to  be  a  remnant  of  the  dress  of  the  ancient 
Polish  nobles. 

The  population  of  Cracow  is  generally  reckoned  at 
49,000,  of  whom  22,000  are  Jews.  The  latter  live  together 
in  a  quarter  by  themselves,  divided  from  the  city  by  a 
stream,  called  “  the  Little  Vistula.”  This  quarter  is  named 
Casimir,  from  Casimir  the  Great,  King  of  Poland  500 
years  ago,  who  married  Esther,  a  beautiful  Jewess,  and 
granted" to  her  nation  at  her  request  permission  to  settle 
there.  There  are  about  10,000  more  in  other  parts  of 
the  republic.  They  follow  all  trades,  and  yet  have  no 
bread  to  eat.  They  are  so  poor  that,  out  of  all  the  Jews 
in  the  republic,  there  are  not  10,000  who  could  afford  to 
pay  one  shilling  for  a  Hebrew  Bible.  Twelve  families 
are  often  lodged  in  one  room  in  winter,  the  floor  being 
chalked  out  into  so  many  portions,  and  a  whole  family 
huddled  together  in  each,  the  children  generally  remain¬ 
ing  in  bed  to  keep  themselves  warm,  as  they  have  no 
clothes  to  defend  them  from  the  cold.  It  is  no  uncom¬ 
mon  thing  for  a  Jew  to  pull  aside  his  long  black  gown 
and  show  that  he  has  nothing  to  cover  his  limbs.  How 
truly  the  word  of  God  by  the  mouth  of  Moses  has  come 
to  pass,  “  When  I  have  broken  the  staff  of  your  bread, 
ten  women  shall  bake  your  bread  in  one  oven ,  and  they 
shall  deliver  you  your  bread  again  by  weight ;  and  ye 
shall  eat,  and  not  be  satisfied.”  *  The  Jews  here  are  so 
strict  Talmudists,  that  a  man  of  some  abilities,  who  had 
seen  and  ridiculed  the  absurdities  of  the  Talmud,  was 
solemnly  excommunicated.  They  universally  believe 
in  the  coming  of  the  Messiah,  and  would  not  listen  to 
one  who  doubted  it.  The  Papists,  in  their  zeal  to  make 
the  Virgin  Mary  every  thing,  cast  discredit  on  the  doc¬ 
trine  that  Christ  will  come  again,  and  try  to  persuade  the 
Tews  that  Mr.  H.  is  not  a  Christian,  because  he  be¬ 
lieves  in  Messiah’s  coming  again  in  glory. 

*  Lev.  xxvi.  26. 


JEWS — BAPTISMS. 


4  77 


The  Government  some  time  ago  erected  a  school  for 
Jewish  children,  and  employed  a  Jew  to  teach  Hebrew* 
German,  and  Polish ;  bat  no  Jew  would  send  his  children, 
because  it  had  been  instituted  by  the  Christians.  The 
University  also  is  open  to  the  Jews,  so  that  they  may 
study  there  free  of  expense ;  and  Mr.  H.  has  frequently 
prepared  young  Jews  for  attending  it.  The  object  in 
granting  this  privilege  no  doubt  is  to  bring  them  over  to 
Popery.  The  Government  seem  afraid,  like  Pharaoh, 
lest  the  Jewish  become  more  numerous  than  the  Gentile 
population,  and  have  enacted  a  law  that  no  Jew  be  al¬ 
lowed  to  marry  unless  he  can  read  and  write  Polish. 

Of  late  years,  fifteen  Jews  have  been  baptized  by  the 
Lutheran  minister  here,  nine  of  whom  were  instructed 
by  Mr.  Hiscock.  Of  some  of  these  he  entertained  good 
hope  that  they  were  brought  to  a  saving  knowledge  of 
Christ,  but  still  more  of  others,  who  were  melted  under 
the  power  of  the  Word,  and  apparently  convinced,  but 
who  soon  left  the  place.  When  a  Jew  comes  to  a  mis¬ 
sionary  desiring  baptism,  if  he  has  good  reason  to  be¬ 
lieve  that  there  is  a  real  change  in  the  man’s  heart,  he 
applies  to  the  Senate  for  a  protocol  or  examination. 
Often  a  delay  of  six  weeks  occurs  before  an  answer  is 
given.  The  examination  of  the  candidate  for  baptism  is 
then  carried  on  before  either  a  Canon  or  Roman  Catholic 
magistrate,  and  the  Lutheran  minister.  If  they  are  satis¬ 
fied,  the  Jew  is  baptized  by  Mr.  Otremba,  and  registered 
in  the  Lutheran  church.  This  most  pernicious  law  must 
be  submitted  to.  As  soon  as  a  Jew  is  known  to  have 
applied  for  baptism,  his  brethren  cast  him  off ;  the  Pa¬ 
pists  also,  and  Lutherans,  shew  him  no  kindness,  so  that 
the  missionary  has  often  had  to  maintain  him  till  the  ex¬ 
amination  and  baptism  were  over,  selling  his  own  and 
his  wife’s  clothes  for  their  support.  In  such  circum¬ 
stances  Jews  are  obliged,  after  baptism,  to  leave  Cracow, 
and  generally  go  to  Hungary  to  seek  their  daily  bread, 
so  that  in  this  country  they  must  “  suffer  the  loss  of  all 
things,”  if  they  would  “  win  Christ.”  If  there  were  any 
means  by  which  converts  could  support  themselves,  Mr. 
H.  was  persuaded  that  one-half  of  the  rising  generation 
of  the  Jews  would  become  Christians.  At  least  eighty 
persons  have  applied  to  him  for  baptism,  but  as  far  as 
he  could  judge,  only  from  worldly  motives,  and  he 
accordingly  discouraged  them.  It  is  an  interesting  fact, 
that  since  the  Protestant  Mission  has  been  established 
here,  very  few  have  been  baptized  into  the  Roman 

42* 


478 


CRACOW— “JEWS. 


Catholic  church.  A  Jewish  doctor,  who  has  considera¬ 
ble  property,  was  baptized  by  the  Lutheran  minister. 
He  is  an  Arian,  but  offered  to  maintain  Jewish  prose¬ 
lytes  on  his  estate,  provided  the  London  Society  would 
allow  them  to  keep  their  Jewish  festivals. 

In  labouring  among  the  Jews,  the  missionary  here 
does  not  go  to  the  synagogue  to  reason  with  them,  be¬ 
cause  if  there  be  an  ill-natured  Jew  present,  he  easily 
excites  a  clamour,  of  which  the  police  would  take  advan¬ 
tage  in  a  moment.  For  the  same  reason  he  does  not 
preach  to  them  on  the  public  street.  He  generally  goes 
into  a  shop,  buys  a  book  for  a  few  groschen  or  pence ; 
and  while  he  is  making  the  bargain,  he  begins  to  speak 
on  the  subject  of  sin  and  atonement,  and  the  shop  is  soon 
filled  with  Jews. 

When  Jews  or  Jewesses  come  to  his  door  to  sell  their 
wares,  he  always  detains  them  till  they  have  heard  the 
gospel  of  the  grace  of  God.  When  we  were  dining  with 
him  one  day,  two  Jews  came  to  the  house  to  sell  some 
of  their  articles.  Mr.  H.  spoke  very  plainly  to  their  con¬ 
sciences  of  the  true  way  of  peace.  They  wished  to  buy 
a  Hebrew  Bible  between  them  for  3s.,  but  he  gave  one 
to  each  of  them,  to  their  great  joy.  Often  thirty  such 
visitors  come  in  one  day.  We  were  reminded  of  the 
way  in  which  Paul  laboured  at  Rome.  “Paul  dwelt 
two  whole  years  in  his  own  hired  house,  and  received  all 
that  came  in  unto  him ,  preaching  the  kingdom  of  God, 
and  teaching  those  things  which  concern  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  with  all  confidence,  no  man  forbidding  him.”  * 

He  also  invites  the  young  men  to  come  to  his  house 
and  learn  any  of  the  languages  he  knows, — English, 
French,  German  and  Latin.  When  they  come  he  puts 
the  Bible  into  their  hands,  and  teaches  them  out  of  it. 
At  one  time  the  rabbi  pronounced  a  herem  or  curse  of 
excommunication  against  all  Jews  who  should  visit  the 
missionary’s  house,  and  appointed  a  man  to  walk  round 
his  house  constantly  for  several  months,  to  watch  if  any 
Jew  went  near  him.  But  notwithstanding  all  this  oppo¬ 
sition,  Mr.  H.  finds  them  ready  to  hear  in  their  shops, 
and  sometimes  in  a  quiet  retired  square.  Frequently 
when  he  has  been  addressing  a  crowd  of  them,  the  Popish 
priests  have  come  past  and  tried  to  draw  the  Jews  away. 
He  is  allowed  by  the  Government  to  distribute  Bibles 
and  tracts  in  Hebrew,  German,  and  Polish,  among  the 


*  Acts  xxviii.  30,  31. 


QUEEN  ESTHER’S  POOL. 


479 


Jews ;  and  in  this  way  the  word  of  God  finds  its  way 
indirectly  among  the  Poles  also.  His  passport  from  Lord 
Palmerston  ensures  him  protection;  but  the  Government 
are  exceedingly  unwilling  that  any  more  missionaries 
should  come.  The  president  hinted  this  to  him  when  he 
spoke  of  getting  an  assistant  in  the  Mission,  by  saying, 
“  You  know  there  is  not  work  for  any  more.” 

More  than  once  we  crossed  the  bridge  over  the  Little 
Vistula,  and  visited  the  Jews  in  Casimir,  their  own  quar¬ 
ter.  The  crowds  of  bearded  Jews,  almost  all  meanly 
dressed,  moved  our  bowels  of  compassion.  One  Jewish 
lad  whom  we  met  said,  “I  believe  in  the  God  of  the  Jews 
and  in  the  God  of  the  Christians;  I  believe  in  Jesus,  and 
in  Mary,  and  in  all  the  gods”  He  afterwards  added, 
that  he  believed  in  no  heaven  and  in  no  hell.  Without 
doubt  this  is  not  a  solitary  case  in  which  Popery  has  led 
to  profane  infidelity. 

The  Jews  here,  still  more  than  in  Brody,  have  the  cus¬ 
tom  of  pressing  you  to  buy  their  goods.  They  rush  out 
of  their  shop,  and  stepping  up  to  you,  warmly  recom¬ 
mend  their  articles ;  often  coming  as  far  as  the  middle 
of  the  street,  and  sometimes  even  taking  you  by  the 
sleeve.  Thus  earnestly  will  they  one  day  press  men  to 
buy  “the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ.”*  We  went 
into  a  small  book  shop,  and  conversed  with  several  Jews. 
One  immediately  said,  “You  are  English.”  We  asked 
why  he  thought  so.  “  Because,”  said  he,  “  you  begin  at 
once  to  talk  about  religion.”  Mr.  Caiman  showed'them 
many  of  the  errors  of  the  Talmud,  and  their  idolatrous 
worship  of  the  moon.  They  were  very  eager  in  their 
defence,  showing  more  feeling  than  is  common. 

Our  Jewish  factor  or  guide  said  once,  when  we  were 
speaking  to  him,  “  Who  knows  whether  Moses  ever  lived 
or  not!”  This  shows  that  the  secret  unbelief,  so  com¬ 
mon  in  Galicia,  is  spreading  here  also  beneath  the  sur¬ 
face  of  Judaism.  Yet  they  frequently  boast  that  they 
are  so  steady  in  their  faith,  that  no  Polish  Jew  has  ever 
been  baptized.  This,  however,  is  contrary  to  truth. 

One  fine  evening  we  walked  out  together  about  a  mile 
from  town,  to  a  large  pond  called  Esther’s  Pool.  It  is 
surrounded  by  willows,  poplars,  and  beautiful  acacia- 
trees  ;  an  old  chateau,  once  her  palace,  stands  near,  and 
there  are  pleasure-grounds  on  every  side.  King  Casimir 
the  Great,  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century, 


*  See  Zeeh.  iii.  10. 


480 


CRACOW  AS  A  MISSIONARY  FIELD. 


married  a  beautiful  Jewess  whose  name  was  Esther. 
Like  Queen  Esther  in  the  Scriptures,  she  loved  her  na¬ 
tion,  and  procured  them  all  the  privileges  which  they 
enjoy  in  Poland  to  this  day.  One  day  the  king  discover¬ 
ed  on  her  head  the  marks  of  a  dreadful  disease,  common 
among  the  poor  in  that  country,  called  plica  polonica , 
winch  mats  the  hair,  and  produces  other  disgusting  ap¬ 
pearances.  His  love  was  turned  to  hatred,  and  in  his 
rage  he  condemned  her  to  be  drowned  in  this  pool,  which 
was  immediately  done,  and  all  Jewesses  were  command¬ 
ed  to  veil  their  faces  in  public,  lest  they  should  ensnare 
treking  by  their  beauty.  The  palace  and  grounds  were 
all  laid  out  for  her.  A  little  way  off  we  climbed  an  arti¬ 
ficial  mount,  made  that  Queen  Esther  might  view  the 
surrounding  country.  From  this  we  saw  the  high  arti¬ 
ficial  hill  raised  in  honour  of  Kosiutzo,  one  of  their 
gi  eatest  patriots  and  generals,  who  died  in  America  * 
His  bones  were  brought  home,  and  this  hill  raised  over 
them,  every  citizen  being  commanded  to  carry  a  basket 
of  earth  to  the  spot.  There  is  another  conical  hill  of  the 
same  kind  near  the  gate,  sacred  to  the  memory  of  King 
Cracus,  founder  of  the  city. 

.  We  were  deeply  impressed  with  the  importance  of  this 
city  as  a  field  of  labour  in  the  cause  of  Israel.  Their 
vast  numbers,  their  afflictions,  and  their  readiness  to 
hear  the  truth,  seem  to  invite  the  efforts  of  the  Gospel 
Missionary.  At  the  same  time  the  difficulties  are  very 
great,  from  the  opposition  of  a  Popish  government,  the 
worse  than  indifference  of  nominal  Protestants,  and  the 
want  of  temporal  support  for  awakened  Jews.  Since 
the  date  of  our  visit,  Mr.  Hiscock  has  been  removed  from 
Cracow  to  another  station.  His  residence  there  was 
evidently  blessed  to  the  Jews,  he  being  a  judicious,  yet 
devoted  labourer,  of  a  pensive  spirit,  but  full  of  love  to 
Israel,  willing  to  spend  and  be  spent  for  Christ.  May 
the  smile  of  the  God  of  Israel  be  upon  all  his  ways  ! 

*  We  presume  General  Kosciusko  is  intended.  He  died  in  Soleure  in 
Switzerland,  in  1817. — (Ed.  Amer.  edition.) 


481. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

PRUSSIA  AND  HAMBURGH. 

“  From  the  daughter  of  Zion  all  her  beauty  is  departed.” — Lam.  i.  6. 

(Oct.  15.)  With  unfeigned  regret  we  parted  from  Mr. 
Hiscock  and  his  family,  for  we  had  taken  sweet  counsel 
together  with  these  “hidden  ones.”  None  but  those 
who  have  experienced  the  same  can  imagine  the  feelings 
with  which  true  Christians  meet  and  part  in  such  a  land. 

We  had  received  from  the  Austrian  police  the  sealed 
parcel  containing  our  books,  of  which  we  had  been  de¬ 
prived  at  Brody;  and  now,  disposing  of  our  sleeping 
mats — hitherto  indispensable  articles — we  prepared  to 
enter  the  bounds  of  more  civilized  Prussia.  At  nine  a.m. 
we  set  out  in  the  Prussian  Schnell-post,  a  most  comfort¬ 
able  vehicle,  which  was  to  carry  us  to  Breslau,  a  distance 
of  185  miles,  for  a  sum  equal  in  our  money  to  19s.  each. 
Our  road  lay  nearly  north,  through  t'he  fine  strath  in 
which  Cracow  lies,  ornamented  with  sheets  of  water  and 
forests  of  pine,  the  Carpathian  range  bounding  the  view 
on  our  left.  The  whole  territory  of  Cracow,  though 
very  small,  is  beautiful,  hill  and  dale  alternating.  A  con¬ 
vent,  embosomed  in  wood,  several  picturesque  churches, 
and  an  old  castle  crowning  an  eminence,  were  the  prin¬ 
cipal  objects,  till  we  passed  within  sight  of  Zarnow, 
where  are  1200  Jews;  and  crossing  the  Vistula,  entered 
the  Prussian  province  of  Silesia.  We  met  with  little 
trouble  at  the  custom-house,  and  none  of  that  inquisito¬ 
rial  suspicion  that  characterizes  the  authorities  of  Aus¬ 
tria.  Indeed,  we  felt  as  if  we  breathed  a  freer  air  as 
soon  as  we  knew  we  were  beyond  the  dominions  of  the 
Man  of  Sin.  Crosses  and  images,  however,  on  the  road¬ 
side  met  our  view, — the  undisturbed  relics  of  Popery, 
which  still  prevails  in  these  districts.  In  the  first  small 


482 


CRACOW  TO  BRESLAU 


village  we  came  to,  called  Berun,  all  built  of  wood,  with 
a  graceful  spire,  there  was  a  shameful  image  of  the  Vir¬ 
gin.  In  the  clear  twilight,  we  saw  the  spires  of  Nicolai, 
and  late  at  night  rested  for  half  an  hour  at  Gleiwitz,  a 
full  October  moon  lighting  up  the  old  market-place. 
Here  we  were  accosted  by  one  of  our  fellow-travellers, 
a  Jew,  and  relative  of  our  friend  Mr.  Cerf,  lately  Jewish 
missionary  in  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow.  He  was  curi¬ 
ous  to  hear  of  our  wanderings  among  his  brethren,  and 
very  kind.  We  passed  on  over  an  excellent  road,  ma¬ 
cadamized  like  the  roads  of  our  own  country ;  and 
awoke  about  five  in  the  morning,  while  entering  Oppeln, 
a  large  pleasant  town,  with  a  council  house  and  other 
public  buildings,— a  good  specimen  of  the  general  clean¬ 
ness  and  neatness  of  the  Prussian  towns.  "  The  inns  af¬ 
ford  every  comfort  to  the  traveller,  and  the  boys,  with 
satchel  on  back,  hastening  to  school,  showed  us  that  we 
weie  in  Protestant  Prussia.  Here  we  were  made  aware 
of  a  regulation  of  the  Schnell-post  worth  recording.  If 
one  wagon  be  full,  the  travellers  are  forwarded  in"a  se¬ 
cond  ;  if  that  be  filled,  a  third  is  provided,  so  that  no 
traveller  can  be  disappointed  of  a  place. 

We  left  Oppeln  while  the  new-risen  sun  was  glancing 
sweetly  along  the  river  Oder,  upon  which  it  lies,  sur¬ 
rounded  with  pleasant  walks.  At  a  church-yard  in  the 
suburbs,  the  funeral  service  was  performing  over  some 
one  at  this  early  hour.  Men,  women,  and  children,  a 
decent  company,  all  kneeled  round  the  grave.  It  was 
a  cheerful  resting-place  for  the  dead,  the  graves  being 
laid  out  in  the  form  of  small  gardens,  and  a  beautiful 
bloom  of  flowers  covering  most  of  them.  The  drive  to 
Breslau  has  little  to  interest  a  traveller.  The  road  is  uni¬ 
formly  lined  with  trees  (often  fine  poplars)  at  regular  dis¬ 
tances;  the  fields  are  cultivated  with  great  care  and 
beauty,  by  a  peasantry  who  seem  industrious  and  happy; 
and  on  the  horizon,  we  generally  caught  a  glimpse  of  a 
thriving  village  with  its  spire,  and  tall  poplars  vying 
with  the  spire.  We  frequently  passed  on  the  road 
the  travelling  journeymen,  so  common  in  Germany,  all 
covered  with  dust.  They  go  from  town  to  town  to  gain 
experience  in  their  trade.  Occasionally,  too,  we  met  a  tra¬ 
velling  Jew.  After  taking  our  midday  meal  at  Brieg,  a 
town  with  an  old  church,  and  fountain  in  the  market¬ 
place,  in  two  hours  more,  we  passed  through  Ohlau,  with 
its  fields  of  tobacco,  and  about  five  o’clock  evening 
entered  Breslau.  Occasionally  some  of  our  companions 


BRESLAU — UNIVERSITY. 


483 


during  this  journey  were  Jews.  But  we  could  hardly 
recognise  them  except  by  their  features.  The  beard, 
the  dress,  the  language,  the  manners,  in  a  word,  all  that 
gives  them  nationality  is  gone,  and  they  seem  desirous 
to  imitate  the  Christian  population  in  every  thing.  At 
one  place,  two  Jewesses  came  into  the  post-wagon.  Mr. 
Ca*man  recognised  them  at  once  as  belonging  to  his  na¬ 
tion,  though  their  gay  dress  and  manners  indicated 
nothing  different  from  those  around  them.  He  told  them 
of  the  "Holy  Land,  but  could  not  get  them  interested; 
indeed,  they  were  quite  unwilling  to  be  recognised  as 
belonging  to  Israel. 

(Oct.  17.)  Early  in  the  morning,  a  Roman  Catholic 
monk  came  to  our  room  in  the  inn,  asking  charity  for 
the  hospital.  We  did  not  refuse  him,  although  we  saw 
that  the  design  of  the  papists  in  being  thus  forward  in 
supporting  such  institutions  is  to  gain  public  confidence 
and  credit  for  humanity.  Soon  after  another  came  ask¬ 
ing  us  to  give  a  little  for  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  telling 
us  their  good  deeds  to  the  sick  and  poor.  But  this  we 
positively  refused  to  do,  telling  the  monk  that  we  were 
Protestants,  and  that  we  could  not  countenance  Popery 
in  any  way,  however  indirect. 

Breslau  is  a  fine  old  town,  surrounded  by  a  trench, 
and  containing  90,000  inhabitants.  The  banks  of  the 
river  Oder,  on  which  it  stands,  have  pleasant  walks, 
shaded  with  trees,  and  there  are  many  trees  gracefully 
planted  throughout  the  town.  The  oldest  houses  are 
built  of  wood,  and  are  strange,  crazy-looking  structures. 
There  is  one  fine  old  square  used  as  a  market-place, 
where  the  houses  have  the  gable  end  toward  the  street, 
some  forming  a  sharp  angle,  others  of  a  fanciful  shape. 
In  the  centre  is  a  bronze  statue  of  Neptune,  standing  on 
dolphins,  with  a  fine  jet  d’eau  bursting  forth  from  his  tri¬ 
dent.  At  one  place,  there  is  a  fine  statue  of  Blucher, 
with  one  hand  grasping  the  sword,  and  the  other  lifted 
up,  as  he  addresses  his  army  in  these  words  inscribed 
below,  “ Mit  Gott  fiir  Konig  und  Voter  land ,”  “With 
God’s  help  for  King  and  Fatherland.”  There  are  eleven 
Protestant,  and  thirteen  Roman  Catholic  churches, 
several  of  the  latter  being  ancient  and  spacious. 

We  visited  the  University,  a  large  antique  building,  on 
one  side  looking  out  upon  the  river.  The  session  was 
not  begun,  so  that  we  saw  only  the  class-rooms,  venera¬ 
ble  and  spacious,  like  those  of  our  own  Universities.  We 


484 


BRESLAU- — SCHCOLS-— — DR.  NEUMANN. 


then  visited  one  of  the  Gymnasia  or  Prussian  schools,  sc 
justly  celebrated  over  the  world.  There  were  100  child¬ 
ren  present  in  the  same  room,  arranged  in  three  classes 
— the  first  containing  children  from  four  to  six  years  of 
age,  the  second  from  six  to  ten,  and  the  third  from  ten 
to  fifteen.  They  began  by  singing  a  hymn,  “  Gott  ist 
gut”  the  girls  singing  the  air,  the  boys  the  tenor,  while 
the  master  accompanied  them  on  the  violin.  All  sang 
from  music  books,  and  the  effect  was  pleasing  and  de¬ 
lightful.  The  teacher  offered  up  a  short  prayer,  after 
which  every  scholar  produced  and  showed  his  pencil, 
paper-book,  &c.,  and  sat  down  to  draw,  the  girls  copying 
flowers  and  patterns,  the  boys  plans  of  architecture,  &c. 
This  was  the  employment  of  that  hour ;  and  all  the  schol¬ 
ars  are  required  to  provide  themselves  with  pencil,  com¬ 
passes,  and  rule,  which  are  kept  in  a  case  and  carried 
along  with  them.  They  learn  Luther’s  “ Kleiner  Cate- - 
chismus  ”  or  Shorter  Catechism,”  and  read  the  New 
Testament.  The  passages  of  Scripture  to  be  committed 
to  memory  are  written  upon  a  black  board,  and  also  the 
lessons  for  next  day.  They  seemed  fine  quiet  children, 
very  tidy,  and  several  young  Israelites  were  among  them. 
All  pay  about  8d.  per  month.  On  our  retiring,  they  rose 
and  whispered  softly  with  one  voice  “Adieu” 

We  now  found  our  way  to  the  house  of  Dr.  Neumann, 
a  converted  Jew,  of  established  Christian  character,  and 
one  of  the  five  professors  in  the  University  of  Breslau, 
who  are  of  the  seed  of  Abraham  according  to  the  flesh. 
He  and  his  lady  and  son  received  us  very  kindly.  His 
eldest  son  is  minister  of  some  Protestant  Germans, 
who  settled  at  Rio  Janeiro  in  Brazil,  and  sent  for  him  to 
come  and  labour  among  them.  His  second  son  is  a 
doctor  of  medicine,  a  fine  young  man,  who  speaks  Eng¬ 
lish  well. 

Of  the  90,000  inhabitants  of  Breslau,  there  may  be 
30,000  Roman  Catholics,  and  54,000  Lutherans.  Ration¬ 
alism  cannot  be  said  to  be  on  the  wane  in  this  quarter, 
for  many  of  the  ministers  and  professors  hold  these 
views,  and  few  indeed  stand  up  to  oppose  its  progress. 
The  recent  death  of  Olshausen  was  a  severe  loss  to  those 
who  defend  the  truth.  There  are  probably  6000  Jews, 
although  some  make  their  number  2500  families,  and 
they  have  twelve  synagogues.  During  this  year  nine 
Jews  had  been  baptized,  but  in  other  years  many  more. 
In  1836  there  were  twenty-six  baptisms.  The  great 


JEWS— —SYNAGOGUE, 


485 

majority  oi  the  Jews  here  are  casting  off  the  Talmud  and 
the  Bible  along  with  it.  They  are  very  careless  of  their  re¬ 
ligious  obsei  vances,  the  young  Jews  never  observing  their 
own  Sabbath,  but  keeping  their  shops  open,  neglecting 
even  the  morning  and  evening  prayers,  which  they  leave 
to  be  performed  by  the  old  men.  Many,  it  is  said,  are  bap¬ 
tized  without  making  it  publicly  known.  In  the  rest  of 
Silesia  thei  e  ai  e  about  10,000  Jews  of  a  similar  character 
among  whom  a  missionary  who  could  speak  German 
might  labour  with  the  full  approbation  of  Government 
and  with  good  prospects  of  success. 

In  the  evening  we  resolved  to  visit  the  Jewish  quarter 
and  on  our  way  met  an  interesting  old  Jew  from  KempI 
fen,  who  took  us  to  their  finest  synagogue,  a  large  build¬ 
ing  with  windows  of  stained  glass.  There  were  not 
more  than  a  dozen  Jews  met  for  evening  prayer  and 
one  of  them  was  a  soldier.  Yet  few  as  they  were,  they 
seemed  to  be  very  devotional.  In  the  shop  of  a  Jewish 
bookseller,  we  asked  a  young  Jewess  if  she  liked  to  read 
the  Bible ;  she  replied  at  once,  “  nem,”  «  No.”  We  pur¬ 
chased  here  some  copies  of  a  prayer-book  for  travellers, 
no-n  nay  rtan,  “  Prayers  for  those  that  journey.”  On 
our  way  to  our  inn,  we  noticed  many  of  the  signboards 
in  the  Hebrew  character. 

(Oct.  18.)  We  started  at  nine  a.  m.  in  the  Eilwaagen 
for  Posen,  twenty-one  German  or  one  hundred  and  five 
English  miles  due  north  from  Breslau,  through  a  country 
of  the  most  uninteresting  sameness  of  character,  and 
over  roads  of  loose  sand  the  greater  part  of  the  way. 
About  eight  miles  from  Breslau,  in  another  direction,  the 
400  Tyrolese  who  lately  left  their  native  valleys,  because 
of  their  attachment  to  the  Protestant  faith,  are  settled  in 
the  Coppal  mountains.  At  three  we  entered  the  village 
of  Prausnitz,  while  the  bells  were  tolling  the  requiem  of 
some  deceased  citizen.  In  the  Prussian  villages  there  is 
always  a  large  square,  in  which  the  houses  have  their 
gable  end  toward  the  street,  and  the  broad  cross-beams 
are  visible,  giving  the  houses  a  fantastic  appearance. 
Many  doors  had  the  mezuza  on  the  outside,  and  a  He¬ 
brew  signboard  appeared  here  and  there.  Out  of  a  popu¬ 
lation  of  2000,  there  are  100  Jews. 

The  country  is  well  cultivated,  but  not  interesting. 
Traenberg  is  another  clean  village,  with  its  square,  old 
Popish  church,  and  image  at  the  gate.  Ten  Jewish 
families  live  here,  and  we  spoke  to  some  of  their  children 

43 


486 


POSEN. 


on  their  way  to  the  synagogue.  There  is  a  fine  avenue 
of  poplars  close  by,  a  handsome  baronial  residence,  and 
a  stream,  being  the  seat  of  Baron  Hartsfeld,  whose  father 
was  once  Prussian  ambassador  to  England.  Late  in  the 
evening  we  passed  through  Rawitz,  and  during  the 
night  through  Lizza,  an  important  Jewish  town,  the 
native  place  of  the  rabbi  of  Glasgow. 

(Oct.  19.)  Next  day  at  noon  we  reached  Posen,  the 
chief  city  of  the  Grand  Dutchy  of  Posen.  It  was  the 
Jewish  Sabbath,  and  as  we  passed  through  the  pleasant 
Boulevard,  we  met  numbers  of  well-dressed  people  walk¬ 
ing  for  pleasure,  whom  we  recognised  at  once  by  their 
features  to  be  children  of  Israel.  Like  Popish  Christians 
they  make  their  Sabbath  a  day  of  show  and  parade.  In 
the  evening  two  Jew  boys  guided  us  to  the  residence  of 
Mr.  Bellson,  the  worthy  Missionary  of  the  London  So¬ 
ciety,  who,  with  his  wife,  gave  us  an  affectionate  wel¬ 
come.  He  is  himself  a  Jewish  convert  from  Cassel 
Hesse,  and  had  laboured  among  his  brethren  in  Hol¬ 
land  for  four  years,  in  Bromberg  for  three  years,  and 
latterly  in  Posen.  We  called  with  him  on  Mr.  Klee,  a 
true  lover  of  Israel,  and  a  person  of  influence,  and  also 
on  Dr.  Cohen,  one  of  the  most  eminent  medical  men  of 
the  place,  a  man  of  learning,  and  a  sincere  convert  from 
Judaism.  From  both  of  these  men  we  experienced  the 
kindest  reception. 

Posen  has  a  population  of  34,000,  of  whom  20,000  are 
Roman  Catholics,  7000  Protestants,  and  about  7000  Jews. 
There  are  three  Protestant  churches  in  the  town,  but  it 
is  only  in  the  garrison  church  that  the  gospel  is  preach¬ 
ed  in  purity.  Rationalism,  of  a  more  refined  but  not  less 
dangerous  kind  than  formerly,  is  still  making  progress. 
Very  few  even  of  those  who  seem  to  be  truly  pious  peo¬ 
ple  believe  in  the  divine  inspiration  of  the  Old  Testament, 
and  scarcely  one  among  them  ever  studies  the  pro¬ 
phets. 

The  arbitrary  attempt  recently  made  by  the  late  King 
of  Prussia,  to  unite  the  Reformed  and  Lutheran  churches 
into  one,  was  resisted  by  a  body  of  men  who  still  main¬ 
tain  the  ancient  doctrine  of  the  Lutherans,  that  “  the  very 
body  of  Christ”  is  present  under  the  elements  of  bread 
and  wine  in  the  Lord’s  Supper ;  but  their  opposition  is 
grounded  mainly  upon  the  principle,  that  the  King’s  in¬ 
terference  with  the  church  in  matters  spiritual  is  sinful. 
They  are  in  fact  maintaining  the  great  scriptural  prin- 


GYMNASIA — MISSIONARY  SCHOOLS. 


487 


ciple  for  which  the  Church  of  Scotland  is  now  so  earn- 
estly  contending, — that  the  Church  of  Christ  is  free,  and 
not  to  be  controlled  by  any  civil  power  in  matters  purely 
ecclesiastical.  There  are  two  Gymnasia  in  Posen;  to 
which  the  wealthier  Jews  send  their  children  to  be  edu¬ 
cated,  so  that  they  are  fast  renouncing  the  Talmud. 

The  Christians  here  take  no  interest  in  the  conversion 
of  the  Jews,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  pious  men,  such 
as  those  to  whom  we  were  introduced.  And  yet  there 
are  in  the  whole  Grand  Dutchy  of  Posen  upwards  of 
73,000  Jews,  there  being  some  in  every  town  of  the  pro¬ 
vince — a  vast  field  for  a  Jewish  Missionary.  At  the  time 
of  our  visit,  the  London  Society  had  three  labourers  in 
this  part  of  the  vineyard,  none  of  them  ordained,  but  one 
of  them  a  “ Candida  t  Prediger ,”  or  probationer  of  the 
Prussian  Church.  Their  labours  are  uninterrupted,  and 
they  find  them  peculiarly  interesting. 

There  were  likewise  seven  missionary  schools  for  Jew¬ 
ish  children,  in  different  parts  of  the  Grand  Dutchy,  under 
the  superintendence  of  the  missionaries  and  of  an  influ¬ 
ential  committee  in  Posen.  Each  of  these  is  supported 
at  an  average  expense  of  from  35/.  to  40/.  yearly.  The 
teachers  are  required  to  be  men  regularly  educated  at  a 
normal  seminary,  examined,  and  licensed  by  Govern¬ 
ment,  as  none  but  such  are  allowed  to  teach  a  school  in 
Prussia.  The  committee  use  their  utmost  endeavour  to 
engage  only  such  as  give  evidence  of  personal  piety, 
though  this  is  often  matter  of  great  difficulty.  They 
never  employ  converted  Jews,  because  this  would  excite 
a  prejudice  against  the  school.  Not  long  ago,  one  of 
their  teachers,  who  had  become  very  decided  in  his  views 
of  divine  truth,  joined  the  Lutherans,  on  which  account 
the  Government  threatened  to  displace  him.  In  all  the 
schools,  the  children  receive  the  common  Prussian  edu¬ 
cation.  Hebrew  is  not  taught,  for  that  would  require  a 
teacher  of  higher  attainments;  but  the  Old  Testament  is 
used  as  a  school-book,  and  the  teachers  freely  introduce 
the  histories  and  doctrines  of  the  New  Testament.  In 
more  than  one  school  the  New  Testament  itself  has 
been  introduced,  and  in  one  the  children  are  acquainted 
both  with  the  New  Testament  and  the  elements  of  Church 
History. 

It  is  a  wonderful  providence  of  God,  that  the  Jews  are 
willing  to  send  their  children  to  schools  conducted  on 
such  principles.  In  towns,  where  the  Jews  have  schools 
of  their  own,  it  would  not  be  possible  to  draw  away  the 


488 


POSEN — SCHOOLS  FOR  JEWISH  CHILDREN. 


children,  and  prevail  on  them  to  attend  a  missionary  school' 
but  in  small  villages,  where  there  are  no  other  means  of 
education,  the  Government  oblige  the  children  to  attend. 
There  are  many  such  places  in  the  Grand  Dutchy,  where 
schools  might  still  be  planted  with  good  hope  of  success, 
and  the  Jewish  children  are  most  anxious  to  attend,  and 
have  been  known  to  entreat  their  parents  with  tears  to 
allow  them  to  become  scholars. 

In  the  town  of  Posen,  the  school  had  for  a  time  been 
nearly  dispersed,  on  account  of  the  baptism  of  two  of 
the  girls.  After  this  event,  it  was  reduced  all  at  once 
from  eighty-three  scholars  to  thirteen,  in  consequence  of 
the  threats  of  the  rabbis.  But  storms  of  this  kind  have 
occurred  before,  are  to  be  expected,  and  may  soon  blow 
over.  Our  own  missionaries  in  India  have  several  times 
experienced  the  same  trial  after  the  baptism  of  the  na¬ 
tive  converts.  The  late  King  of  Prussia,  the  present 
King  (at  that  time  Crown  Prince),  and  other  members 
of  the  Royal  family,  were  in  the  habit  of  receiving  an 
annual  report  of  these  schools,  and  returning  to  the  mis¬ 
sionaries  their  thanks,  along  with  their  subscriptions. 
This  was  instrumental  in  inducing  the  Jews  to  treat  the 
missionaries  with  kindness,  because  they  believed  them 
to  be  in  favour  with  Government. 

(Oct.  20.  Sabbath.)  Mr.  Bellson  conducted  us  to  the 
garrison  church,  to  hear  a  sermon  from  Mr.  Niese,  an 
Evangelical  minister,  who  had  lately  come.  All  the  seri¬ 
ous  people  attend  there,  because  it  is  the  only  church  in 
Posen  where  they  can  hear  “  the  words  of  eternal  life.” 
It  is  also  the  fashionable  church,  because  the  officers  of 
the  garrison  are  to  be  found  there.  It  was  crowded,  and 
we  had  to  stand  in  the  passages  along  with  many  others, 
including  some  devout  men  from  the  country,  who  wore 
ear-rings,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  place.  After  a 
very  short  Liturgy,  the  congregation  joined  in  a  psalm, 
and  though  there  was  a  large  organ  leading,  the  sound 
of  it  was  almost  drowned  in  the  full  swell  of  human 
voices,  carrying  all  the  parts  of  music  in  a  way  unknown 
in  our  churches.  After  a  short  preface,  the  minister  read 
out  the  text,  Ephesians  vi.  12,  “We  wrestle  not  with 
flesh  and  blood,”  during  the  reading  of  which  all  stood 
up.  He  began  by  remarking,  that  though  some  might 
ffiink  this  passage  suited  soldiers  best,  yet  every  Chris¬ 
tian  is  a  soldier ;  even  in  times  of  perfect  peace  there  is 
war  around  him.  One  of  his  chief  foes  is  the  devil,  the 


GARRISON  CHURCH — MEETING  AT  MR.  BELLSON’s.  489 


leader  of  a  host — the  unseen  “  ruler  of  darkness,”  who 
is  crafty,  suiting  himself  to  the  dispositions  of  every 
man ;  ii  he  be  a  poor  man,  tempting  him  to  murmur,  if 
rich,  to  be  proud.  Therefore  we  must  take  the  “  whole 
armour  of  God.”  The  “righteousness”  here  spoken  of 
is  Christ’s  righteousness  ;  for  our  own  could  never  give 
us  courage  to  stand.  The  word  of  God  is  “the  sword,” 
as  we  see  it  proved  to  be  when  Christ  used  it  against  the 
devil,  giving  him  always  this  stroke,  “ Es  steht  geschrie- 
ben,  Es  steht  geschrieben ,  Es  steht  geschvieben ,”  “It  is 
written,  It  is  written,  It  is  written.”  We  overcome 
through  him  in  the  same  way.  And  (said  he)  “ Christi 
Bruder  ist  Satans  uberwinder ,”  “  A  brother  of  Christ  is 
a  conqueror  of  Satan.”  Therefore,  watch.  A  soldier  on 
watch  cries  to  each  that  passes,  “  Who’s  there  I”  (Wer 
da  ?)  But  is  that  all  1  No,  he  must  seek  help.  Therefore, 
also  “  pray.”  He  then,  in  a  strain  of  most  animated  elo¬ 
quence,  suiting  his  gestures  to  the  words,  spoke  of  the 
“  hope  of  salvation,”  and  made  allusion  to  the  battle  of 
Leipsic,  the  anniversary  of  which  had  taken  place  the 
preceding  week,  as  a  time  when  for  seven  years  there 
had  been  one  cry  through  all  Germany,  “ Mit  Gott  fur 
Komg  und  Vaterland ,”  “  With  God’s  help,  for  king  and 
country.”  So  must  it  be  with  us  till  our  conflicts  are 
crowned  with  victory.  A  short  prayer  followed,  after 
which  he  pronounced  a  blessing;  the  people  sang  a 
hymn,  and  dispersed.  It  was  an  interesting  audience, 
and  an  impressive  service ;  yet  we  were  told  that  many 
were  offended,  for  they  are  not  much  accustomed  to  hear 
the  truth. 

In  the  evening  we  met  together  in  Mr.  Bellson’s  for 
prayer  and  conversation  on  the  Scriptures.  Dr.  Cohen 
and  Mr.  Klee  were  present,  and  at  their  request,  we  con¬ 
ducted  worship  in  English.  There  was  also  present  an 
interesting  young  man,  who  is  condemned  to  imprison¬ 
ment  for  life  in  the  fortress,  because  in  his  college  days 
he  had  joined  a  conspiracy  against  kings  and  govern¬ 
ments.  He  has  been  lately  impressed  with  the  truth, 
and  by  the  influence  of  Mr.  Klee  has  his  bonds  often 
loosed. 

(Oct.  21.)  We  found  only  eleven  Jewish  children  at 
the  Missionary  school  in  Posen,  and  these  very  young, 
the  rest  being  for  the  present  deterred  from  attendance 
by  the  influence  of  the  Rabbi.  The  teacher  appeared  to 
be  a  man  of  an  excellent  spirit.  He  examined  his  class 
upon  the  early  life  of  Christ,  and  then  they  sang  a  hymn, 

43* 


490 


POSEN — MISSIONARY  SCHOOLS. 


while  he  led  them  on  the  violin ;  one  little  girl,  named 
Lina,  accompanied  him  with  the  voice  by  herself  in 
another  hymn.  Up  to  the  time  of  the  baptisms  this  was 
a  flourishing  school.  There  were  at  one  time  twelve 
children  in  it  of  whose  real  conversion  the  teacher  had 
every  reason  to  hope  well;  and  two  of  these  were  the 
girls  lately  baptized. 

The  average  number  attending  the  seven  missionary 
schools  in  this  province,  in  the  year  1839,  was  267.  In 
several  of  them  an  evening  class  is  maintained,  which  is 
frequently  well  attended  by  elderly  Jews,  even  married 
men.  In  Posen,  as  many  as  forty  or  fifty  have  come,  in¬ 
duced  chiefly  by  the  desire  to  learn  writing,  though 
reading  and  explaining  the  Scriptures  are  always  the 
principal  business  of  the  class.  All  the  schools  are  gra¬ 
tuitous,  for  if  the  parents  had  to  pay  they  would  not  send 
a  single  scholar.  Every  teacher  gives  in  a  monthly  re¬ 
port  of  his  school  to  the  missionaries,  marking  the 
attendance  or  absence  of  the  children  every  day,  and 
stating  their  progress  and  behaviour.  Subjoined  is  a 
specimen  of  the  attendance  of  the  children  during  five 
months  in  1839 : — 


April. 

May. 

June. 

July. 

Aug. 

At  Margonim, 

44 

42 

32 

34 

40 

- Evening  Class, 

27 

30 

25 

21 

27 

At  Storchnest, 

27 

25 

26 

26 

26 

- Evening  Class, 

21 

16 

16 

16 

15 

At  Kempen, 

59 

60 

61 

60 

60 

At  Inaworclaw,* 

21 

46 

48 

34 

20 

At  Schlichtingsheim, 

24 

25 

25 

At  Posen, 

58 

67 

76 

39 

33 

At  Rogasin, 

— 

— 

24 

30 

32 

The  books  used  are  the  usual  elementary  school-books, 
a  book  of  history  for  children,  and  the  Old  Testament. 
The  evening  classes  are  not  considered  to  be  under  the 
charge  of  Government,  and  therefore  the  system  pur¬ 
sued  in  them  is  not  so  complete,  nor  the  reports  so  full. 
In  their  reports,  the  teachers  frequently  mention  the  im¬ 
pressions  made  on  the  minds  of  the  children  by  what 
they  hear  of  the  Saviour.  The  girl  mentioned  as  baptized 
nine  months  previous  to  our  visit,  was  Bertha  Louisa 
Brache.  She  was  one  who  had  been  under  deep  impres¬ 
sions  of  divine  truth  for  four  years ;  but  the  teacher  to 


*  Pronounced  Inavorclav. 


MEETING  OF  SCHOOL  COMMITTEE. 


491 


whose  instrumentality  she  owed  her  knowledge  of  the 
truth,  removed  to  another  station  a  great  way  off,  in  Prus¬ 
sian  oland,  so  that  she  had  no  one  to  whom  she  might 
open  her  mind.  Bertha,  however,  became  very  decided  in 
her  views.  Her  mother  was  dead,  and  her  father  being  her 
only  companion,  she  loved  him  exceedingly,  but  he  was 
a  determined  Jew,  and  bitterly  opposed  her  desire  to  be 
a  Christian,  so  that  she  resolved  to  seek  baptism  and  a 
refuge  elsewhere  than  in  Posen.  One  morning  she  set 
out  very  early  with  her  Bible  and  hymn-book?  to  find 
her  teacher,  who  now  lived  so  far  off;  but  her  father, 
suspecting  which  way  she  would  go,  pursued  and  over¬ 
took  her.  On  being  brought  back,  she  said  that  as  she 
went  along  that  morning  she  was  exceedingly  happy 
singing  hymns  and  reading  the  word  of  God  freely.  Her 
father  treated  her  very  severely,  taking  every  book  from 
her,  even  her  Bible,  and  not  suffering  her  to  attend 
school;  at  last  she  made  her  escape  a  second  time,  and 
her  case  becoming  known,  a  very  excellent  man,  who 
has  an  estate  at  Pinne,  six  miles  from  town,  took  her  in¬ 
to  his  family.  She  was  baptized  at  Pinne,  by  the  worthy 
pastor  of  the  parish,  Dr.  Klee,  and  seldom  has  there  been 
a  more  impressive  scene  than  that  baptism.  The  other 

fir  ,-Wi?se,conversion  is  also  veiT  decided,  is  named 
Maria  Charlottma  Wilensia. 

.  }n  the  evening  a  meeting  of  the  committee  who  super¬ 
intend  the  schools  was  held  at  Mr.  Bellson’s  house. 

1  here  were  present  two  officers  from  the  garrison,  affec¬ 
tionate,  Christian  men,  who  embraced  us  in  the  German 
fashion,  kissing  each  cheek.  Dr.  Cohen  also  attended, 
and  one  of  the  pastors  of  the  Garrison  Church,  a  worthy 
man,  yet  like  some  other  of  the  good  people  of  Germany, 
totally  ignorant  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  not  reckon¬ 
ing  it  inspired.  We  had  some  interesting  converse  with 
this  person  in  Latin,  and  surprised  him  not  a  little  by 
telling  him  that  in  Scotland  we  all  received  the  Old  Tes¬ 
tament  with  the  same  reverence  as  the  New.  We  re¬ 
moved  some  of  his  objections,  but  he  knew  so  little  that 
he  could  scarcely  find  out  the  books  to  which  we  refer¬ 
red,  in  the  common  German  Bible.  He  told  us  that  he 
had  read  some  of  Dr.  Chalmers’s  works  translated  into 
German,  and  desired  much  to  see  his  sermons.  We 
had  often  heard  the  missionaries  remark  that  those 
Christians  in  Germany  who  take  a  lively  interest  in  the 
Jews,  are  all  of  them  persons  who  have  begun  to  take 


492 


POSEN — PRUSSIAN  TEACHERS. 


an  interest  in  the  Old  Testament;  but  this  clergyman 
seemed  to  be  an  exception.  How  defective  must  be 
the  knowledge,  sanctification,  and  spiritual  attainments 
of  many  German  Christians,  since  “  all  Scripture  is 
given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable  for  doc 
trine,  &c.,  that  the  man  of  God  may  he  perfect,  through 
ly  furnished  unto  all  good  works.”  How  thankful  ought 
we  to  be  that  we  live  in  a  land  where  from  our  youth 
we  are  taught  that  every  word  of  the  Holy  Bible  is 
divine. 

Dr.  Cohen  explained  to  us  the  manner  in  which  all 
Prussian  teachers  are  licensed.  —  They  are  obliged  to 
attend  one  of  the  normal  seminaries  for  three  years,  and 
at  the  end  of  this  period  receive  a  testimonial  with  the 
signature  and  seal  of  the  proper  authorities.  The  most 
proficient  get  testimonial  No.  I. ;  the  next.  No.  II. ;  and 
those  who  have  made  least  progress,  No.  III.  The  fob 
lowing  are  the  heads  of  the  testimony  : — 1.  Religion  ;  2. 
German  Language;  3.  Elocution;  4.  Writing;  5.  Reck¬ 
oning;  6.  Geometry;  7.  Geograghy;  8.  Natural  History; 
9.  Singing;  10.  Piano  and  Organ;  11.  Violin;  12.  Theo¬ 
ry  of  Music;  13.  Drawing;  14.  Aptness  to  teach.  After 
each  head  is  written  “  tolerable ,”  “  well,”  “  very  well,' 
according  as  the  case  may  be.  Why  is  enlightened 
Scotland  so  slow  to  imitate  the  many  excellencies  in  the 
Prussian  system  of  training  her  teachers'? 

The  teacher’s  salary  in  their  Jewish  schools  is  only 
20/.  annually,  and  a  present  varying  from  a  few  dollars 
to  3/.  The  female  teacher,  who  is  engaged  two  hours 
a-day  in  teaching  the  girls  knitting  and  sewing,  receives 
4/.  a-year.  The  rent  of  the  school-room,  cost  of  mate¬ 
rials,  &c.  must  be  added  to  this,  and  about  51.  at  the 
outset  to  fit  up  the  room.  So  that  the  whole  cost  of 
maintaining  a  Posen  missionary  school  is  from  35/.  to 
40/.  a-year.  At  how  small  a  sacrifice  may  Christians  in 
this  country  open  up  more  of  these  “  wells  of  salvation” 
for  Jewish  children,  who  are  “  ready  to  perish”  in  Prus¬ 
sian  Poland. 

The  same  evening  we  walked  round  the  fortress  of 
Posen,  which  is  in  the  course  of  being  erected.  It  is  of 
vast  extent,  and  the  walls  are  of  a  peculiarly  hard  brick 
cemented  together,  having  bastions  of  earth  impenetra¬ 
ble  to  cannon-balls.  At  the  corners  stand  bomb-proof  re¬ 
doubts,  small  forts  so  constructed  that  twenty  men  could 
maintain  them  against  a  host,  and  these  have  underground 


VISIT  TO  JEWISH  SCHOOL  AT  STORCHNEST.  493 

communications  with  distant  fortifications.  When  the 
whole  works  are  finished,  there  will  be  five  such  for¬ 
tresses  completely  encircling  Posen,  and  frowning  defi¬ 
ance  on  the  Northern  Bear,  so  that  it  will  be  one  of  the 
strongest  fortifications  in  the  world.  Certainly  we 
never  saw  anything  like  it  in  any  of  the  countries  we 
passed  through ;  but,  how  much  happier  did  the  towns 
of  our  own  free  country  appear,  which  have  neither  gates 
nor  bars  !  And  yet  happier  Jerusalem  which  shall  have 
neither  walls  nor  battlements,— for  “I,  saith  the  Lord, 
will  be  unto  her  a  wall  of  fire  round  about,  and  will  be 
the  glory  in  the  midst  of  her.”  * 

.We  left  Posen  at  12  o’clock  the  same  night  in  company 
with  Mr  Bellson,  to  visit  one  of  the  Jewish  schools  at 
Storchnest,  being  anxious  to  be  there  next  morning 
(Oct.  22)  in  time  to  see  its  operations.  The  blowing  of 
the  bugle  in  the  Prussian  “  Post-waagen ,”  is  a  very  enli¬ 
vening  sound.  The  Suarrow  or  driver  imitates  the 
sounds  of  the  horses  going  at  different  rates  of  speed. 
“  Blasen  sie  ‘  Die  Fahr-post ,’  ”  said  Mr  Bellson,  and  the 
driver  imitated  the  sound  of  the  common  mail-coach. 
Then  “  Blasen  sie  1  Die  Schnell-post.‘>  ”  and  he  gave  us 
the  rate  of  the  express-post.  We  retraced  part  of  our 
Breslau  journey  for  three  posts,  and  then  turned  off  to 
Storchnest.  The  morning  was  dull  and  hazy;  we  were 
well  wrapped  up  in  cloaks  and  furs,  and  Mr  B.  occasion¬ 
ally  beguiled  the  way  with  Hebrew  chants,  till  about  10 
m  the  morning  we  reached  Storchnest,  a  small  quiet 
village  with  a  green  in  the  centre.  We  found  thirty- 
eight  children  in  the  school,  of  whom  only  fifteen  were 
girls,  all  very  poor,  but  having  fine  Jewish  faces;  As 
theie  are  no  other  means  of  education,  the  Government 
makes  it  obligatory  on  the  Jewish  children  to  attend  this 
missionary  school,  and  the  Burgomaster  of  the  village  is 
warden,  and  must  take  care  that  this  is  done.  "The 
teacher  seemed  a  good  young  man,  and  the  children 
were  reading  the  life  of  Joseph  in  the  German  Bible  as 
we  entered.  We  afterwards  heard  them  examined  on 
Bible  history,  grammar,  geography,  and  natural  history, 
in  all  which  they  answered  well.  Lastly,  they  sang 
sweetly  three  of  Luther’s  Hymns,  the  teacher  playing  the 
violin.  On  the  whole,  we  were  reminded  of  a  well-con¬ 
ducted  small  parish  school  in  Scotland ;  only  the  singing 
here  was  far  more  beautiful.  We  then  proceeded  to 


*  Zechc  ii.  4,  5. 


494 


FRAUSTADT — MR  HARTMANN. 


Lissa,  a  town  of  10,  000  inhabitants,  of  whom  4000  are 
Jews.  It  was  here  that  Emma  de  Lissau  lived;  and  her 
relations  are  still  here.  The  Jews  of  Lissa  are  noted  for 
bigotry  and  attachment  to  Judaism,  and  the  missionaries, 
though  they  sometimes  visit  it  to  discuss  the  truth  with 
their  learned  men,  have  no  opportunity  to  preach  to  the 
people,  because  the  Protestant  clergyman  is  a  rationalist, 
and  opposes  them. 

At  evening  we  came  in  sight  of  Fraustadt,  said  to  be 
one  of  the  cleanest  towns  in  Prussia.  The  number  of 
windmills  erected  near  the  town  is  quite  remarkable. 
Ninety-nine  were  in  sight,  all  in  active  operation  grind¬ 
ing  corn,  which  is  carried  to  Berlin  and  the  towns  around. 
We  spent  the  evening  at  Fraustadt  with  Mr  Hartmann, 
a  probationer  of  the  United  Church  of  Prussia,  and  one 
of  the  missionaries  of  the  London  Society.  Mr  Graff, 
another  of  their  missionaries,  also  joined  our  party,  for 
these  two  make  Fraustadt  their  head-quarters,  and  both 
seem  “  workmen  that  need  not  to  be  ashamed.” 

Mr  Hartmann  is  allowed  to  preach  in  almost  all  the 
churches  of  the  Grand  Dutchy  of  Posen  and  of  Silesia, 
and  this  liberty  he  uses  on  Saturdays  in  preaching  to  the 
Jews.  When  the  missionaries  arrive  in  a  town,  they 
spread  among  the  Jews  a  few  printed  notices  intimating 
their  arrival,  and  also  that  there  will  be  sermon  at  such 
an  hour,  mentioning  the  text  or  theme.  These  sermons 
in  the  parish  church,  are  attended  by  a  congregation  of 
Jews  and  Jewesses,  from  200  to  500  in  number.  They 
behave  quietly,  not  answering  again,  as  they  would  do 
in  a  room ;  only  when  he  quotes  a  passage  of  Scripture 
(which  he  always  does  in  Hebrew),  they  repeat  the  quo¬ 
tation  along  with  him,  and  sometimes  correct  him  if  he 
makes  a  slip  in  any  word.  He  preaches  to  them  plainly 
that  Messiah  is  come,  and  that  Jesus  is  the  Messiah.  On 
one  occasion,  he  preached  in  the  parish  church  of  Kroto- 
sheim,  to  an  audience  of  nearly  800  Jews,  who  listened 
with  great  propriety  and  stillness  till  he  came  to  the  end, 
when  he  began  to  declare  in  the  most  explicit  terms,  that 
Jesus  Christ  was  the  Messiah.  This  he  had  no  sooner 
done  than  they  rose  and  left  the  church  in  great  confu¬ 
sion.  At  Pleschen,  where  there  are  only  600  Jews,  he 
had  lately  a  congregation  of  300,  and  at  Kobylin  there 
were  200.  On  such  occasions,  the  children  attending  the 
missionary  schools  delight  to  be  present,  and  often  bring 
their  friends. 

At  the  three  fairs  held  at  Frankfort-on-the-Oder,  in 


JEWISH  MISSIONARIES. 


495 


May,  July,  and  November,  the  missionaries  attend  and 
preach  to  great  congregations  of  Jews,  both  on  the  Satur¬ 
day  and  Sunday.  Mr.  H.  preaches  once  a-month  at 
Walstein,  and  once  a-month  at  Glogau,  but  if  there  were 
more  either  o icandidats  or  of  ordained  missionaries,  they 
would  traverse  not  only  the  Grand  Dutchy,  but  Silesia 
also.  These  two  affectionate  Germans  told  us  that  they 
had  been  labouring  for  twelve  years  in  this  province,  and 
they  observe  a  very  marked  change  in  the  state  of  the 
Jewish  mind.  Twelve  years  ago,  the  Jews  would  not 
have  come  near  a  Christian  church,  nor  were  they  wil¬ 
ling  to  converse  upon  matters  that  affected  their  soul. 
But  now  they  seem  to  be  convinced  in  their  heads  that 
Judaism  is  false,  and  that  Christianity  may  be  true;  but 
they  feel  not  the  burden  of  sin,  and  therefore  do  not 
really  change.  The  present  is  the  time  for  Christians  to 
use  every  effort  to  send  the  gospel  to  them,  otherwise 
infidelity  in  some  form  will  occupy  their  minds.  What 
a  sphere  is  this  for  missionary  labour!  Here  we  might 
have  our  Scottish  system  of  a  parish  school  and  a  parish 
church  realized  among  the  many  thousands  of  Israel ! 
Nowhere  have  we  yet  seen  such  an  inviting  field  to  one 
who  feels  that  the  simple  proclamation  of  the  glad  tidings 
is  a  minister’s  chief  duty.  He  may  go  through  the  pro¬ 
vinces  freely,  enter  the  churches,  assemble  Israel,  and, 
like  another  Paul,  declare  to  them  “  the  hope  of  Israel” 
as  already  come. 

Mr.  Bellson,  by  way  of  contrast,  related  some  of  the 
difficulties  he  had  met  with  in  labouring  among  the  Jews 
of  Holland.  There  are  25,000  Jews  in  Amsterdam,  but 
many  of  them  being  rich  and  influential,  are  difficult  of 
access,  and  bitter  in  opposition,  while  the  meaner  Jews 
do  not  hesitate  to  show  their  dislike  on  the  streets.  On 
one  occasion,  they  beset  his  house,  and  tried  to  raise  a 
tumult.  A  man  of  a  peculiar  mould  might  be  useful 
there,  one  who  could  face  much  opposition ,  and  it  ap¬ 
peared  to  us  that  our  Scottish  churches  in  Amsterdam 
and  Rotterdam  would  render  the  efforts  of  our  mission¬ 
aries  more  easy. 

(Oct.  23.)  We  left  Fraustadt,  accompanied  by  the  three 
brethren,  all  in  the  missionary  wagon  as  they  called  it, 
a  car  drawn  by  two  active  ponies,  and  driven  by  Joseph 
— a  Roman  Catholic,  but  a  useful  servant  in  gathering  the 
Jews  together,  when  we  visit  small  towns. 

We  shortened  the  journey  by  conversing  on  Israel, 
and  the  labours  and  prospects  of  the  missionaries,  and 


496 


SCHLICHTINGSHEIM- — SCHOOL. 


soor.  reached  Schlichtingsheim,  a  neat  Polish  village 
built  in  the  form  of  a  square,  with  pleasant  grass  and 


trees  in  the  centre.  In  the  school  were  twenty-three 
Jewish  children,  all  young.  The  elder  scholars  had  very 
lately  left  the  school,  after  completing  their  term  of  at¬ 
tendance,  which  is  eight  years.  There  are  only  twenty 
Jewish  families  in  the  village,  and  every  child  of  the 
specified  age  was  present.  The  scholars  were  lively  and 
interested ;  and  the  teacher  seemed  to  have  the  true  art 
of  fixing  their  attention.  He  examined  them  on  the 
books  of  Moses.  When  they  repeated  the  promise  that 
the  seed  of  the  woman  should  bruise  the  serpent’s  head, 
he  asked,  “  Who  is  this  V’  They  replied,  “  Messiah.” 
He  then  asked  for  the  next  prophecy  in  the  Bible  in  re¬ 
gard  to  him.  They  quoted  the  words  of  Jacob,  “  The 
sceptre  shall  not  depart  from  Judah  till  Shiloh  come,” 
and  said  that  Jesus  Christ  was  foretold  there.  He  pointed 
to  a  map  of  Palestine,  and  asked  them  to  show  Bethlehem, 
bidding  them  tell  who  was  bom  there.  They  quoted 
Micah’s  prophecy,  and  explained  it  of  the  birth  of  Christ. 
They  then  pointed  out  Nazareth,  and  other  places  in 
the  Holy  Land,  telling  what  had  happened  at  the  several 
towns.  The  Burgomaster,  himself  a  baptized  Jew,  turn¬ 
ed  to  us  and  said,  “These  children  have  more  know¬ 
ledge  of  Christianity  in  their  hearts  than  the  children  of 
the  Christians.”  The  teacher  has  an  excellent  method  of 
dealing  with  the  children,  for  he  rather  makes  them  draw 
him  out  to  speak  to  them  of  Christianity,  than  forces  it 


eCHLICHTINGSHEIM  TO  GLOGAU-— ANECDOTE,  40 7 

upon  them.  They  have  frequently  asked  him  to  allow 
them  to  read  in  the  New  Testament,  which  he  sometimes 
does,  and  we  saw  their  German  Bibles  piled  up,  each 
containing  the  New  Testament.  Each  child  has  also  a 
MS.  book  of  hymns  well  thumbed,  the  music  written  in 
figures.  The  parents  are  either  too  indifferent  to  make 
objections,  or  their  own  faith  in  Judaism  is  shaken.  The 
teacher  then  examined  them  in  mental  arithmetic,  in 
which  it  is  said  that  the  Jewish  boys  always  excel.  He 
also  showed  us  specimens  of  their  writing  and  drawing; 
and  they  ended  by  singing  one  of  Luther’s  hymns’ 
“ Lobe  den  Herrn .” 

At  one  of  these  schools,  on  the  day  before  Christmas, 
the  teacher  told  the  children  that  there  would  be  no  meet¬ 
ing  of  the  school  next  day,  and  explained  the  reason. 
He  was  surprised  in  the  course  of  the  afternoon,  when 
some  of  them  requested  to  be  allowed  to  come  next  day, 
and  learn  about  the  Saviour,  whose  birth  he  was  to  cele¬ 
brate.  He  gladly  consented  ;  and  accordingly  next  day 
almost  all  the  children  came,  and  he  then  enjoyed  the 
fullest  opportunity  of  instructing  them  in  the  knowledge 
of  Jesus.  A  similar  incident  occurred  to  another  teacher. 
When  walking  in  the  fields  one  day  with  some  of  the 
children,  they  gathered  round  him  and  entreated  him  to 
tell  them  about  his  Messiah.  He  immediately  sat  down 
with  them  in  the  field,  and  fully  proclaimed  the  Saviour 
to  his  little  flock.  In  the  school  at  Kempen,  we  were  told 
that  there  are  children  who  really  appear  to  have  the 
grace  of  God  in  their  hearts.  The  same  has  been  the 
case  in  the  school  at  Posen,  so  that  God  is  pouring  out 
his  Spirit  on  the  seed  of  Jacob. 

(  t  Lit  acam  in  the  missionary  wagon  for  Glogau, 
passing  through  a  village  which  a  few  years  ago  was 
swept  away  by  the  Oder  overflowing  its  banks,  but 
which  is  now  rebuilt.  An  interesting  anecdote  here  re¬ 
lated  to  us,  shows  what  blessed  effects  might  flow  forth 
upon  the  Jews,  if  the  Prussian  Christians  among  whom 
they  live  were  all  Christians  indeed. — An  aged  Jew  was 
sitting  one  summer  evening  beside  a  really  Christian 
woman,  before  her  cottage  door,  as  is  the  custom  in  Ger¬ 
many.  The  Jew  said  to  her,  “  If  you  would  tell  what 
you  really  think,  you  would  say  that  Jesus  is  not  the  Son 
of  God.”  She  answered  very  solemnly,  “As  sure  as  we 
are  sitting  here,  and  the  sun  shining  from  heaven,  so 
surely  is  Jesus  the  Son  of  God,  and  very  God  himself; 
and  unless  you  believe  in  him  you  must  surely  perish.” 


498 


GLOGAU. 


He  made  no  reply,  but  went  home,  and  soon  after  took 
to  his  bed,  and  was  evidently  at  the  gates  of  death.  The 
Jews,  according  to  their  manner,  lighted  candles;  but 
once  and  again  he  revived.  At  last  he  cried,  “ Herr 
Jesu Lord  Jesus,  “Have  mercy  upon  me!”  Upon  this, 
all  the  Jews  left  him,  and  he  died  alone,  calling  loudly  on 
the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Another  anecdote  was  told 
us  of  a  less  pleasant  nature. — Some  time  ago,  when  the 
missionaries  were  travelling  through  the  Dutchy  of  Po¬ 
sen,  they  met  a  poor  Jew  who  asked  alms,  and  told 
them  his  history.  He  had  had  a  large  family  of  daugh¬ 
ters,  but  no  sons ;  and  had  become  excessively  anxious 
that  the  next  birth  in  his  family  might  be  a  son.  He 
prayed  earnestly  for  this,  and  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  if 
God  would  grant  his  request,  he  would  submit  to  any 
suffering  or  disease,  and  would  even  be  willing  that  his 
wife  and  daughters  should  die.  Some  years  after,  his 
wife  did  bear  a  son,  but  she  herself  was  shortly  after  re¬ 
moved  by  death.  Next  one  of  his  daughters  sickened, 
and  died ;  then  another,  till  at  last  all  were  taken  from 
him.  To  crown  his  misery,  he  himself  was  seized  with 
that  loathsome  disease,  so  common  among  Polish  Jews, 
the  plica  polonica ,*  and  at  the  same  time  was  reduced  to 
poverty.  He  considered  himself  as  a  monument  of  the 
severe  justice  of  God,  who  had  thus  punished  him  for 
insisting  upon  a  change  in  the  arrangements  of  his  Pro¬ 
vidence. 

Crossing  a  wide  drawbridge,  we  entered  Glogau,  a 
fortified  town  on  the  Oder,  having  12,000  inhabitants; 
of  whom  1500  are  Jews.  It  has  several  Protestant 
churches,  one  of  which  is  built  of  brick,  and  is  500  years 
old.  Its  gymnasium  is  reckoned  one  of  the  best  in  Prus¬ 
sia  for  teaching  the  Latin  language.  We  called  upon 
one  of  the  Evangelical  clergy,  Pastor  Anders,  a  young 
but  faithful  minister,  who  is  exposed  to  much  reproach 
for  his  Master’s  name.  He  spoke  with  us  in  Latin,  mak¬ 
ing  many  inquiries  into  the  constitution  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland. 

We  here  parted  with  deep  regret  from  our  three  mis¬ 
sionary  friends.  Although  our  acquaintance  had  been 
so  recently  formed,  we  had  nevertheless  found  each  other 

*  This  disease,  already  noticed  in  the  history  of  Queen  Esther,  p. 
480,  will  remind  the  student  of  prophecy  of  the  words  of  Moses,  “  The 
Lord  shall  smite  thee  in  the  knees,  and  in  the  legs,  with  a  sore  botch 
that  cannot  be  healed,  from  the  sole  of  thy  foot  unto  the  top  of  thine 
head."  Dent,  xxviii.  35. 


PRUSSIAN  POLANB - JEWISH  SCHOOLS.  499 

to  be  brethren,  and  our  hearts  were  knit  together  in  love 
to  the  same  Lord  and  in  compassion  for  Israel. 

And  now  looking  back  on  the  view  we  then  obtained 
of  the  field  of  labour  in  Prussian  Poland,  our  sense  of  its 
importance  has  been  deepened  rather  than  diminished. 
It  has  many  peculiar  advantages : — 

1.  The  Jewish  Schools ,  under  the  superintendence  of 
the  Missionaries,  are  not  confined  in  their  range  of  in¬ 
struction  to  the  common  elements  of  a  general  educa¬ 
tion.  The  aim  steadily  kept  in  view  has  been,  to  give 
the  young  Jews  such  instruction  as  will  lead  them  to 
Christ.  The  Committee  have  succeeded  in  finding  godly 
men,  trained  in  the  Normal  schools  of  Prussia,  who  are 
willing  for  a  small  salary  to  devote  themselves  to  this 
work.  There  was  something  in  these  schools  that  made 
us  feel  as  if  we  were  visiting  our  own  parochial  schools 
in  Scotland;  only  they  were  Jewish  villages  that  sent 
forth  the  groups  of  playful  children,  and  Jewish  parents 
that  came  to  make  excuses  for  an  absent  scholar.  The 
instances  of  conversion  that  have  occurred,  show  that 
they  have  “the  good  will  of  Him  that  dwelt  in  the  bush,” 
for  already  young  olive  plants  in  this  soil  are  partaking 
of  the  fatness  of  Judah’s  true  olive-tree.  Many  more 
such  schools  might  be  added,  if  the  Committee  had  the 
means;  indeed,  they  might  be  multiplied  to  an  indefinite 
extent.  Surely  some  Christian  hearts  will  be  touched 
with  pity  for  the  children  of  Zion,  “  who  faint  for  hunger 
at  the  top  of  every  street.”*  Since  our  visit,  three  addi¬ 
tional  schools  have  been  set  in  operation  by  the  contri¬ 
bution  of  Christians  in  Scotland ;  and  the  ease  with 
which  this  has  been  done,  proves  how  possible  it  would 
be  to  multiply  them. 

2.  Along  with  these  interesting  schools,  a  missionary 
here  has  an  open  door  for  preaching  the  word  to  the 
Jews.  Perhaps  there  is  at  present  no  other  place  where 
one  whose  delight  is  to  lift  up  his  voice  as  a  herald  of  di¬ 
vine  truth  to  Israel,  could  find  such  an  opportunity  of 
gratifying  his  desire.  The  missionary  has  free, access 
every  week  to  the  parish  churches,  if  he  be  inclined  to 
avail  himself  of  the  privilege,  and  on  such  occasions  may 
be  seen  a  crowd  of  Jews  and  Jewesses,  with  their  child¬ 
ren  running  by  their  side,  moving  to  church  to  hear  the 
word  of  truth  proclaimed.  Particular  occasions  also, 


*  Lam.  ii.  19. 


500 


STATE  OF  THE  JEWISH  MIND. 


such  as  the  Frankfort  Fair,  furnish  them  with  even  wider 
opportunities.  Let  a  man  of  apostolic  mind  and  energy 
arise,  and  unimpeded  by  Government,  he  may  stand  in 
the  midst  of  Jewish  multitudes,  proclaiming,  “  Ho,  every 
one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the  waters !” 

3.  The  state  of  the  Jewish  mind  in  this  province  at 
present  is  most  favourable  to  missionary  efforts.  In 
other  places  they  delight  to  enter  into  controversy,  here 
they  have  patience  to  listen  to  the  exposition  of  the  word ; 
and  parents  manifest  an  extraordinary,  unsuspecting 
readiness  to  send  their  children  to  the  schools.  The  au¬ 
thority  of  the  Talmud  with  the  mass  of  Jews  is  altogether 
shaken ;  and  yet  they  have  adopted  no  other  system  in 
its  room,  as  if  God  were  keeping  open  the  door  for  Chris¬ 
tian  labourers.  The  fact,  too,  that  there  have  been  more 
converts  from  the  Jews  of  this  province  than  from  any 
other  country,  of  itself  would  confirm  the  favourable 
hopes  that  might  be  entertained  from  further  exertions 
among  them.  And,  when  to  all  this  we  add,  that  the 
qualifications  required  for  a  well-furnished  missionary 
are  by  no  means  difficult  of  attainment,  being  simply  a 
fluency  in  the  German  tongue,  and  a  good  knowledge 
of  pointed  Hebrew,  does  there  not  open  to  the  view  a 
field  “  white  and  ready  to  harvest  I”  It  is  not  a  contro¬ 
versialist  that  is  here  required,  but  rather  one,  who,  hav¬ 
ing  the  unction  of  the  Spirit,  would,  like  Paul  at  Rome, 
“  expound  and  testify  the  kingdom  of  God,  persuading 
them  concerning  Jesus,  both  out  of  the  law  of  Moses,  and 
out  of  the  prophets,  from  morning  till  evening.”  * 

After  our  missionary  brethren  had  departed,  Mr. 
Klopsch,  Director  of  the  Gymnasium,  called  upon  us,  and 
invited  us  to  spend  the  evening  with  his  family.  We 
complied,  and  were  received  with  the  utmost  warmth  of 
affection.  Besides  his  wife,  his  three  boys  were  in  the 
room,  and  his  daughter  continued  to  work  busily  at  the 
spinning-wheel  all  the  evening,  while  taking  an  active 
share  in  the  conversation  at  the  same  time.  With  the 
old  Director,  our  whole  conversation  was  carried  on  in 
Latin,  and  we  understood  one  another  easily.  One  of 
of  his  seven  surviving  children  he  had  called  “Imman¬ 
uel,”  because  his  mother’s  life  was  despaired  of  at  his 
birth,  but  God  was  with  her ;  another  he  named  “Rein- 
ardt”  ( i .  e.  pure-hearted,)  to  intimate  the  purity  of  heart 


*  Acts  xxviii.  23 


CONVERSATION  WITH  MR.  KLOPSCH.  501 

required  by  God;  and  so  with  the  others.  When  we 
asked  why  he  had  not  given  names  to  his  daughters  on 
the  same  principle,  he  replied,  “  Because  at  the  time  of 
their  birth,  I  myself  did  not  know  the  Lord.”  At  his 
desire,  we  described  the  present  state  of  Palestine,  while 
he  and  his  family  put  many  questions  about  the  towns 
and  places  mentioned  in  Holy  Writ.  He  told  us  that 
there  are  forty  Jewish  boys  attending  the  Gymnasium 
here ;  some  of  whom  left  the  Roman  Catholic  gymna¬ 
sium,  and  came  to  him,  because  he  was  kind  to  Jews. 
Of  one  Jewish  boy  he  had  much  hope,  for  he  came  of 
his  own  accord,  like  Nicodemus,  and  asked  to  be  taught 
concerning  the  Christian  faith.  He  knew  a  good  deal 
about  Scotland,  and  said  that  the  visit  of  a~  German 
traveller,  Gemba,  who  described  the  manner  in  which 
the  Sabbath  is  kept  by  the  Scottish  people,  first  drew 
forth  his  love  to  our  country.  He  was  interested  in  the 
questions  at  present  agitating  our  Church,  and  had 
already  heard  that  the  Veto  Law  was  pronounced  illegal. 
He  seemed  to  appreciate  fully  the  Scriptural  constitution 
of  our  church,  in  being  free  from  all  civil  control  in  mat¬ 
ters  spiritual,  and  felt  deeply  that  the  treatment  of  the 
Lutheran  church  by  the  Prussian  King  was  an  act  of 
encroachment  by  the  civil  power,  resulting  from  their 
church  possessing  no  spiritual  jurisdiction  distinct  from 
the  State.  One  of  his  favourite  books  was  Rutherford’s 
Letters,  which  have  been  translated  into  German.  Du¬ 
ring  the  evening,  a  German  Candidat  came  in  and  joined 
the  conversation  in  Latin,  and  also  a  gentle  Moravian 
with  his  wife,  from  whom  Mr.  Caiman  received  an  inter¬ 
esting  account  of  some  of  their  settlements.  The  com¬ 
pany  of  believers  seems  to  be  very  small  in  Glogau,  but 
they  are  full  of  love.  They  have  to  suffer  many  things. 
Meetings  for  prayer  are  not  allowed,  lest  they  should  be 
used  for  political  purposes,  and  when  they  wished  to 
have  a  Sabbath  evening  school  in  the  church,  the  police 
prohibited  it,  on  the  pretence  that  the  church  might  be 
set  on  fire,  though  the  theatre  is  open  with  its  blazing 
lustres  every  night.  We  told  them  how  different  it  was 
in  happy  Scotland.  Late  in  the  evening,  we  bade  them 
an  affectionate  farewell,  happy  to  have  had  a  glance  into 
one  of  the  believing  families  of  Prussia. 

(Oct.  24.)  We  left  Glogau  in  a  raw  foggy  morning, 
before  dawn,  and  in  two  hours  were  at  Klopschen.  Soon 
after  we  passed  through  Neusaltz,  a  Moravian  village, 

44* 


602 


BERLIN — JEWS. 


where  Kohlmeister  lives,  a  venerable  missionary,  who 
laboured  for  thirty  years  at  Labrador.  At  midday,  ver¬ 
dant  vineyards  were  on  each  side  of  the  road,  on  the 
sloping  hills  around  the  pleasant  town  of  Gruenberg. 
Towards  evening,  we  reached  Lessen,  where  the  Oder 
is  joined  by  another  stream.  The  broad  river,  the  oppo¬ 
sing  hill,  mantled  with  vines,  and  the  handsome  church, 
gave  it  a  beautiful  aspect.  The  dark  blue  kerchief  which 
the  women  wear  on  the  head  in  addition  to  their  white 
caps,  gives  them  a  singular  appearance. 

By  nine  o’clock  we  arrived  at  Frankfort-on-the-Oder. 
and  next  morning  by  daylight  entered  the  capital  of 
Prussia. 

Berlin  is  now  so  well  known  in  this  country,  that  any 
lengthened  description  would  be  here  out  of  place.  It  is 
really  a  handsome  city,  situated  upon  a  plain,  with  the 
Spree,  a  tributary  of  the  Elbe,  flowing  through  it,  spanned 
by  many  bridges.  The  public  buildings  have  much  of 
the  air  of  royalty  about  them.  The  castle,  the  museum, 
the  dome  church,  the  theatre  with  a  church  on  each  side 
(a  painful  combination,  and  an  emblem,  it  is  to  be  feared, 
of  the  state  of  religion  in  Prussia),  are  all  handsome 
buildings,  worthy  of  such  a  capital.  The  long  walk 
under  the  linden-trees,  with  the  king’s  palace  and  many 
fine  houses  on  either  side,  all  the  way  up  to  the  splendid 
Brandenburg  gate,  forms  one  of  the  finest  promenades 
in  Europe.  The  streets  are  wide  and  lively,  without 
being  overcrowded  like  those  of  London  and  Paris. 

.  25.)  Our  main  object  being  to  acquire  informa¬ 

tion  regarding  the  Jews,  we  eagerly  sought  out  Mr. 
Becker,  missionary  of  the  London  Society.1-  We  found 
him  engaged  with  the  captain  of  police,  in  a  consultation 
about  some  Jews  who  had  come  from  Poland  without  a 
pass,  professing  to  wish  baptism,  and  one  of  whom  at 
least  seemed  really  in  ear^pst.  Up  to  1830,  Mr.  Becker 
was  maintained  by  the  Edinburgh  Jewish  Society  ;  and 
laboured  in  Magdeburg,  until  he  was  compelled  by  the 
late  Duke  to  leave  that  station.  He  was  then  engaged 
at  Frankfort-on-the-Maine,  and  latterly  at  Berlin.  Du¬ 
ring  the  year  then  past,  fifty-four  inquiring  Jews  had 
come  to  him,  of  whom  he  had  baptized  five,  but  many 
had  drawn  back.  There  were  about  5000  Jews  in  Ber¬ 
lin,  though  others  make  the  number  8000 ;  and  between 
900  and  1000  proselytes.  Of  the  latter,  the  great  propor¬ 
tion  are  very  poor,  a  few  only  rich,  but  these  have  no 


JEWS. 


503 


concern  about  the  salvation  of  their  brethren.  Two 
Jews  came  in  while  we  were  with  Mr.  Becker,  one  an 
inquirer,  the  other  a  baptized  convert,  a  rabbi  from  Ga¬ 
licia,  named  Abraham,  whom  he  had  met  in  London, 
and  who  had  been  lately  sent  over  to  study  under  Mr. 
Becker’s  care.  He  is  a  very  learned  man,  but  proud, 
and  unwilling  to  submit  to  the  labour  of  acquiring  ele¬ 
mentary  knowledge  at  his  time  of  life. 

There  is  a  society  in  Berlin  for  aiding  in  the  support 
of  poor  proselytes  and  inquirers,  which  is  thought 
to  be  absolutely  needful.  The  plan  is  not  to  give  help 
directly,  but  in  return  for  labour,  getting  pious  men  to 
employ  inquirers  or  proselytes  at  their  different  trades. 
In  the  evening,  we  met  with  the  Committee  of  this  Soci¬ 
ety,  and  were  introduced  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kunze,  and 
Mr.  Focke,  the  Secretary.  We  heard  a  statement  of 
thirty  cases  of  those  who  receive  support.  “  Most  of 
our  experiences  are  sad  (said  Focke),  but  some  are  joy¬ 
ful.”  One  of  their  first  steps  was  to  advertise  for  Chris¬ 
tian  masters,  who  from  love  would  be  willing  to  take 
Jewish  inquirers  and  converts  as  apprentices.  Thirty- 
three  masters  agreed  to  this,  but  it  was  not  all  of  them 
that  had  patience  and  long-suffering  with  the  young  Jews 
sufficient  to  lead  them  to  persevere.  They  thought  an 
Institution  for  proselytes  would  be  advisable,  where  they 
might  be  fed  and  watched  over,  and  from  which  they 
might  be  sent  out  as  apprentices,  for  at  present  they 
sleep  each  in  the  house  of  his  master.  They  had  been 
instrumental  in  relieving  the  wants  of  about  seventy 
proselytes  during  that  year,  the  support  granted  differing 
in  different  cases, — some  requiring  clothes  and  every 
thing  necessary ;  only  they  never  give  help  directly,  but 
always  in  return  for  labour.  The  “  Basle  Freund  des 
Israel ,”  published  at  Basle,  is  conducted  on  the  same 
principles. 

Mr.  Becker  mentioned  that  he  had  preached  at  the 
gaol  on  the  previous  Sabbath  to  400  prisoners,  among 
whom  were  forty  Jews.  The  Director  is  a  good  man, 
and  has  been  useful  to  several  of  the  prisoners,  and 
among  others  to  a  young  Jew.  This  youth  was  con¬ 
fined  two  years  for  theft,  during  which  time  he  learned 
the  catechism  and  much  of  the  Bible,  and  now  that  he  is 
set  at  liberty,  he  comes  regularly  to  the  missionary  ask¬ 
ing  in  good  earnest  what  he  must  do  to  be  saved.  Mr. 
Focke  also  told  us  of  a  man  who  had  murdered  his  mo¬ 
ther,  and  who,  during  his  confinement,  appeared  to  be 


504 


BERLIN-STATE  OF  RELIGION. 


truly  converted.  The  minister  who  attended  him  said  that 
his  confession  of  sin  was  the  deepest  he  had  ever  heard. 

It  was  likewise  mentioned  that  three  persons  of  note 
had  lately  laid  before  the  king  of  Prussia  a  proposal  that 
the  European  powers  should  at  this  time  bring  Jerusa¬ 
lem  again  under  Christian  sway,  or  give  it  into  the  hands 
of  the  Jewish  nation  by  a  bloodless  crusade.  The  king 
answered  that  he  highly  approved  of  their  object,  but 
that  he  had  no  influence,  and  advised  them  to  lay  the 
proposal  before  the  other  powers  of  Europe.  They  were 
said  not  to  be  religious  men,  but  men  moved  by  general 
views  of  philanthropy. 

Dr.  Neander,  though  himself  an  Israelite  by  birth, 
takes  no  special  interest  in  his  brethren.  He  cannot  be 
made  to  see  that  means  ought  to  be  used  for  their  con¬ 
version,  and  his  opinion  is  that  the  efforts  of  societies 
are  not  to  succeed.  On  the  other  hand,  Dr.  Hengsten- 
berg  has  done  much  for  the  Jewish  cause,  and  has  fre¬ 
quently  recommended  it  to  his  students. 

Walking  home  with  the  faithful  Kunze,  we  received 
from  him  an  account  of  the  religious  state  of  the  capital. 
Berlin  has  a  population  of  250,000  souls,  and  seventy 
churches  of  different  denominations.  Three  ministers 
and  two  churches  have  been  added  lately  upon  the  prin¬ 
ciple  of  our  Church  Extension  Scheme,  for  the  Govern¬ 
ment  discovered  that  the  population  had  greatly  in¬ 
creased,  while  scarcely  one  additional  church  had  been 
built  for  a  hundred  years.  Some  rich  people  subscribed 
to  the  new  churches,  but  the  Government  were  the  chief 
promoters  of  the  scheme.  Rationalism  is  not  in  fashion 
at  Berlin ;  only  three  of  the  ministers  are  Rationalists, 
and  these  are  not  attended  by  more  than  fifty  hearers. 
The  late  king  was  a  supporter  of  all  good  things,  though 
he  did  not  firmly  press  on  his  ministers  all  that  he  him¬ 
self  saw  to  be  right.  The  present  king  (at  that  time 
Crown  Prince),  was  thought  to  be  much  more  decided, 
and  supported  the  truth  in  direct  opposition  to  all  his 
father’s  Neologian  counsellors.  Three  of  the  king’s  min¬ 
isters,  of  whom  Kunze  is  one,  preach  the  Gospel  un¬ 
flinchingly.  There  is  also  some  success  accompanying 
the  preached  word  in  Berlin,  and  many  come  inquiring 
what  they  must  do  to  be  saved.  Gossner,  who  was 
brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  through  Martin 
Boos  and  wrote  his  life,  is  pastor  of  the  Bohemian  church 
here,  and  has  been  remarkably  blessed  in  awakening 
souls.  The  real  Christians  of  Berlin  do  take  an  interest 


NEW  SCHOOL  SYNAGOGUE. 


sor 


in  the  cause  of  the  Jews,  but  not  equal  to  its  vast  impor« 
tance,  for  missions  to  the  heathen  are  far  better  supported, 
Kunze  himself  is  engaged  every  week  in  the  instruction 
of  inquirers,  both  Jewish  and  Gentile,  and  has  baptized 
112  Jews  from  the  commencement  of  his  labours,  forty 
of  whom  were  from  the  Grand  Dutchy  of  Posen,  and 
almost  none  from  Berlin.  “  It  is  a  cause  (he  said)  which 
needs  much  patience  and  long-suffering ;  but  the  more 
they  are  sunk  and  degraded,  so  much  the  more  we  should 
compassionate  them.  And  how  cheering  is  that  promise, 
‘As  ye  were  a  curse  among  the  heathen,  O  house  of 
Judah  and  house  of  Israel,  so  will  I  save  you,  and  ye 
shall  be  a  blessing.’  ”  * 

In  passing  the  palace,  Kunze  pointed  to  the  King’s 
sleeping  apartment,  the  light  in  the  window  of  which  is 
the  common  intimation  to  the  people  that  the  King  has 
retired  to  rest.  We  could  not  but  contrast  his  peaceful 
reign  with  that  of  the  Sultan  of  Constantinople,  whose 
palace  is  far  removed  from  his  capital,  in  order  to  ensure 
his  safety. 

(Oct.  26.)  Rabbi  Abraham  called  and  conducted  us  to 
one  of  the  New  School  synagogues,  connected  with  their 
seminary  for  youth.  A  choir  of  fine  Jewish  boys  sat  on 
either  side ;  the  older  Jews,  wearing  no  distinctive  dress 
except  the  Tallith  over  the  shoulders,  sat  in  the  middle ; 
the  women  were  placed  by  themselves,  but  not  concealed 
by  any  lattice- work.  After  a  short  prayer,  a  fine  Hebrew 
psalm  was  sung  by  the  boys  responsively,  and  then  the 
rabbi,  Dr.  Auerbach,  gave  an  extempore  prayer  in  Ger¬ 
man,  and  preached  a  sermon  on  Abraham  offering  up  Isaac, 
enforcing  from  it  the  duty  of  serving  and  obeying  God. 
His  quotations  from  Scripture  were  given  in  Hebrew, 
but  always  followed  up  by  a  German  translation.  We 
spoke  with  several  of  the  Jews  present.  One  who  had 
travelled  with  us  from  Breslau  seemed  a  fine  young 
man,  and  seriously  inclined.  Another  spoke  with  us  in 
Latin.  While  leading  us  to  the  synagogue,  he  said  that 
he  still  studies  the  Talmud,  though  he  does  not  receive 
it  as  the  word  of  God,  and  that  he  believes  the  Old  Tes¬ 
tament  to  be  divine.  The  old  synagogue  is  a  fine  large 
building  in  the  Gothic  style,  like  that  of  Brody,  but  not 
so  handsome. 

We  visited  the  splendid  Museum,  which  is  freely  open 
to  the  public ;  and  afterwards  called  on  Eisner  agent  for 


*  Zech.  viii.  13. 


506 


BERLIN — MR.  BECKER — KLOSTER-K1RCHE. 


the  Bible  and  Tract  Society,  a  warm-hearted,  godly  old 
German,  a  truly  zealous  and  useful  man,  and  one  of  those 
who  are  raised  up  by  God  to  be  the  helps  of  the  ministry 
in  spreading  the  glad  tidings  over  the  world.  He  gave  us 
the  Reformation  Tract,  newly  printed.  The  Saturday 
following  was  to  be  held  as  a  sacred  festival,  in  comme¬ 
moration  of  the  Reformation,  it  being  exactly  300  years 
that  day  since  first  their  King  publicly  owned  the  Re¬ 
formed  religion,  by  partaking  of  the  Lord’s  Supper  in 
both  kinds  in  the  Old  Church  of  Nicolai  (2d  Nov.  1539). 
The  present  Royal  Family  had  resolved  to  partake  of 
the  Lord’s  Supper  in  the  same  church  on  that  day.  On 
our  way  home,  we  did  not  fail  to  visit  this  venerable 
structure,  with  its  sharp-pointed  spire,  the  Nicolai  Kirche, 
where  Bucholzer  used  to  preach. 

(Oct.  27.  Sabbath.)  At  nine,  we  went  to  hear  Mr. 
Becker  preach  in  the  Roman  Catholic  “  Kloster-Kirche,” 
a  dismal  old  church,  built  of  brick,  with  galleries  covered 
over  with  ancient  paintings,  and  an  immense  image  of 
Christ  on  the  Cross  with  the  women  standing  by,  sus¬ 
pended  from  the  roof.  These  do  not  suit  our  Pres¬ 
byterian,  nor  even  our  Protestant  taste,  and  must  be  an 
object  of  abhorrence  to  a  Jew.  There  was  a  small  con¬ 
gregation  of  serious  old  people,  and  a  few  Jews.  We 
first  heard  the  Lutheran  liturgy,  then  a  psalm,  and  a  dis¬ 
course  on  Exod.  xxiii.  21,  “My  name  is  in  him.”  Mr. 
Becker  is  in  the  habit  of  advertising  in  the  newspapers 
the  day  before,  the  subject  on  which  he  is  to  preach, 
thus : — 


“  Avertissement. 

runs  oosity  c man  ejiip 

4  Kehret  wieder,  ihr  abtruenningen  Kinder,  so  Mill  ich 
euch  heilen  von  eurem  Ungehorsam.’  Die  Alt  Testa- 
mentliche  Predigt  ueber  Jerem.  iii.  22,  23,  wird  am  Buss- 
tage,  den  24ster  April,  frueh  9  Uhr,  der  Prediger  Becker  in 
der  Kloster-Kirche  halten.” 

“  Advertisement. 

‘Return,  ye  backsliding  children,  and  I  will  heal  your 
backslidings.’  The  Old  Testament  discourse  on  Jerem. 
iii.  22,  23,  will  be  given  on  the  Fast-day,  24th  April,  at 
nine  o’clock  a.  m.,  by  Mr.  Becker,  in  the  Kloster-Church.” 

We  next  went  to  the  Dom-Kirche,  where  the  King  and 
Royal  Family  generally  attend.  It  is  a  modern  building, 
with  a  lofty  fretted  roof,  supported  by  a  range  of  pillars 


MR.  KUNZE — SABBATH  DESECRATION. 


50V 


on  either  side.  The  altar  is  adorned  with  a  beautiful 
painting,  two  lighted  candles,  and  a  crucifix.  Five  ser¬ 
vices  are  conducted  here  every  Sabbath  by  different 
ministers,  at  different  hours.  As  we  entered,  we  saw 
the  conclusion  of  a  marriage  ceremony,  which  was  per¬ 
formed  in  front  of  the  altar.  A  short  liturgy  was  then 
read  by  an  aged  minister,  and  a  fine  choir  of  boys  sang 
a  hymn,  aided  by  a  noble  organ.  A  younger  minister 
preached  on  “the  two  debtors,”  with  a  good  deal  of  ani¬ 
mation  in  his  manner.  Reading  sermons,  or  even  the 
use  of  notes,  seems  unknown  among  Prussian  pastors. 

At  two,  we  heard  Mr.  Kunze  preach  in  the  “  Waisen- 
Kirche”  (Orphan-Church,)  to  a  large  and  evidently  im¬ 
pressed  audience.  The  singing  was  delightful,  and  the 
discourse  delivered  with  great  fervour  and- warmth,  from 
the  words  “Ye  were  once  darkness,  but  now  are  ye 
light  in  the  Lord.”  He  referred  in  the  course  of  his  ser¬ 
mon  to  the  Reformation,  and  the  third  jubilee  of  it  to  be 
celebrated  that  week.  At  every  mention  of  the  name  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  whether  in  prayer  or  in  the  ser¬ 
mon,  the  greater  part  of  the  congregation  bowed  their 
head.  Most  of  them  sat  during  prayer,  though  some 
kneeled,  and  some  stood.  After  the  blessing  was  pro¬ 
nounced,  all  sat  still  for  a  minute  in  deep  silence,  and 
then  rose  to  depart  home. 

The  Sabbath  desecration  of  Berlin  is  most  lamentable. 
It  is  not  like  the  gay  pleasure-day  of  Paris,  nor  like  the 
day  of  show  and  parade  in  London,  but  it  is  like  a  com¬ 
mon  business-day.  Most  of  the  shops  are  open  and 
busily  frequented,  and  most  of  the  people  wear  their 
week-day  clothes.  In  the  evening,  it  was  saddening  to 
see  the  large  theatres  open  and  lighted  up.  Guilty  city ! 
Paris  sins  in  comparative  ignorance,  but  Berlin  sins 
against  the  light  of  a  faithfuHy  preached  gospel,  and  the 
testimony  of  many  holy  believers. 

(Oct.  28.)  We  visited  the  Jewish  school  belonging  to 
the  New  Synagogue,  where  150  boys  are  educated. 
There  are  four  classes,  of  which  the  highest  is  taught 
Hebrew  thoroughly ;  one  of  the  boys  translated  a  portion 
of  Isaiah  while  we  were  there.  They  have  a  small 
library,  apparatus  for  experiments  in  natural  philosophy, 
and  a  piece  of  ground  cultivated  for  the  study  of  botany. 
The  director,  Auerbach,  paid  us  every  attention,  gave 
us  their  printed  reports,  and  conducted  us  through  the 
orphan-house  adjoining,  where  sixteen  orphan  children 
are  maintained.  When  educated,  these  orphans  are 


508  BERLIN — GOSSNER— BOHEMIAN  CHURCH. 

sent  out  to  work  under  Christian  masters,  and  two  of 
them  have  been  baptized. 

At  four  o’clock,  we  went  to  hear  Gossner  preach  in 
the  Bohemian  Church.  It  was  crowded  with  an  audi¬ 
ence  of  peculiarly  solemn  and  devout  worshippers.  The 
king’s  brother  and  his  lady  are  among  his  most  regular 
hearers.  He  preaches  with  much  fervour  and  great 
plainness,  not  sparing  the  sins  of  high  or  low.  His  re¬ 
marks  were  often  very  pointed.  “  Some  of  you  cheat, 
lie,  swear,  and  come  to  the  Bohemian  Church,  and  are 
among  my  most  attentive  hearers, — and  why  1  That  you 
may  balance  your  sins  with  your  devotions.”  He  preach¬ 
ed  first  from  the  New  Testament,  and  then  from  the  Old, 
both  discourses  being  very  brief.  At  the  close,  the  con¬ 
gregation  sang  a  missionary  hymn,  with  special  refer¬ 
ence  to  their  brethren  who  had  gone  to  Australia  ;  Goss¬ 
ner  reading  the  line,  and  all  singing  in  the  sweetest 
manner. 

We  spent  the  evening  with  Mr.  Focke,  and  learned 
something  more  of  the  brotherly  love  of  German  Chris¬ 
tians.  Mr.  F.  is  the  translator  of  Rutherford’s  Letters,  and 
the  works  of  some  other  Scottish  writers,  into  German. 

(Oct.  29.)  We  had  an  opportunity  of  hearing  Dr.  Ne- 
ander  lecture  for  an  hour  to  about  400  students.  He 
stood  without  any  gown,  carelessly  dressed  in  a  brown 
surtout,  leaning  over  a  rude  desk.  His  large  shaggy 
eyebrows  and  prominent  Jewish  nose,  gave  an  expres¬ 
sion  of  depth  and  power  to  his  face,  but  his  whole  man¬ 
ner  and  appearance  are  most  ungainly.  His  utterance 
is  very  distinct,  but  with  a  good  deal  of  effort,  and  with 
so  many  pauses  that  the  students  were  able  to  write 
down  every  word;  and  when  he  came  to  any  unusual 
proper  name,  he  spelt  it  to  them.  The  lecture  was  on  the 
authorship  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  In  the  midst 
of  his  dissertation  the  bell  rang,  whereupon  he  immedi¬ 
ately  closed  his  papers,  scarcely  finishing  the  sentence, 
bowed  to  the  students,  and  was  the  first  to  leave  the 
class-room.  There  is  no  prayer  either  at  the  commence¬ 
ment  or  close,  for  this  would  be  considered  Pietism. 
The  Doctor  is  a  singular  man.  When  visitors  go  to  call 
upon  him,  they  have  often  to  seek  about  his  room  in 
order  to  find  him,  for  he  is  hidden  behind  shelves  and 
folios.  In  conversation  they  must  draw  him  out,  ques¬ 
tion  after  question,  for  no  one  gets  from  him  more  than 
he  asks.  Yet  he  is  very  kind  to  his  students,  and  enter¬ 
tains  them  twice  a-week  at  tea. 


UNIVERSITY  — GOSSNER. 


509 

Berlin  University  is  now  distinguished  in  all  its 
branches.  The  great  aim  of  the  late  king  was  to  make 
it  the  first  University  in  Germany,  and  he  has  succeeded, 
by  gathering  the  ablest  men  to  be  professors  there.  Its 
theology  is  on  the  whole  the  soundest  of  any  in  Ger- 
many.  Hengstenberg  is  professor  of  Biblical  Criticism, 
and  confines  himself  to  the  interpretation  of  the  Old 
Testament.  He  seems  to  be  the  firmest  and  boldest 
opponent  of  Rationalism  and  German  philosophy  in  all 
ei  many,  but  theieare  not  many  professors  who  adhere 
to  him.  Neander  is  standing  still  while  others  are  be¬ 
coming  more  orthodox,  and  his  views  of  inspiration 
would  be  condemned  by  every  body  of  Christians  in 
England. 

"YV"e  called  upon  Gossner,  and  found  him  a  lively  warm¬ 
hearted  old  minister.  He  does  not  take  a  particular  in¬ 
terest  in  the  Jews.  “  This  is  the  time  (said  he)  for  ang¬ 
ling  them  out  one  by  one,  but  not  for  the  general  haul” 
He  spoke  much  of  Martin  Boos,  saying,  “  He  was  a  man 
like  Luther,  but  very  mild,  and  I  myself  am  a  monument 
of  his  success.”  He  believed  that  the  chief  reason  why 
Boos  never  joined  any  Protestant  church  was,  that  he 
could  not  bear  the  coldness  and  infidelity  so  widely  pre-  „ 
valent  among  them.  Thirty-seven  Bavarian  priests  were 
the  fruit  of  his  labour,  who  continue  in  the  Roman  Catho¬ 
de  Church,  yet  preach  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  Many 
of  his  people  became  Protestants,  but  others  could  not 
stand  the  trials  to  which  they  were  subjected.  He  shewed 
us  a  picture  which  represents  him  with  a  cap  on  his  head. 

We  had  afterwards  an  interesting  account  of  Gossner’s 
own  labours  in  St.  Petersburg.  It  is  eighteen  years  since 
he  was  forced  to  part  from  his  people  there.  Many  in  the 
Russian  capital  were  becoming  concerned  about  their 
souls  under  his  ministry,  and  for  this  reason  he  was  sud¬ 
denly  commanded  to  leave.  Chained  to  a  soldier,  he  was 
conducted  out  of  Russia,  when  multitudes  of  his  people 
followed  him,  weeping  as  they  went  for  ten  miles ;  till  he 
entreated  them  to  return,  and  implored  a  parting  bless¬ 
ing  upon  them.  Although  so  many  years  have  elapsed, 
still  some  of  his  people  meet  together  upon  his  birthday 
every  year,  to  pray  that  his  useful  life  may  be  preserved 
How  lasting  is  the  tie  that  unites  a  Christian  people  to 
their  spiritual  father ! 

We  spent  the  evening  with  Mr.  Kunze  and  two  inter¬ 
esting  Jewish  converts,  one  a  medical  man,  who  desires 

45 


510  EERI.IN— KUNZE— SABBATH  SCHOOLS. 

earnestly  to  be  employed  as  a  medical  missionary  among 
his  brethren,  the  other  a  useful  member  of  the  Berlin 
Society  for  Visiting  the  Sick,  and  both  esteemed  as  truly 
Christian  men.  From  them  we  learned  something  more 
of  the  real  condition  of  Christ’s  kingdom  in  Berlin.  Faith¬ 
ful  ministers  are  on  the  increase,  and  they  maintain  three 
meetings  for  ministerial  conference  and  prayer.  One  of 
these  contains  seven  pastors,  who  meet  every  Monday 
evening  for  the  study  of  the  Scriptures ;  the  Hebrew  and 
Greek  Bible,  and  Hengstenberg’s  Christology  being  be¬ 
fore  them.  After  supper  they  go  over  each  of  the  ser¬ 
mons  of  the  past  Sabbath,  and  communicate  freely 
ministerial  experiences  and  difficulties.  What  a  salu¬ 
tary  influence  such  meetings  must  exercise,  and  how- 
worthy  are  they  of  imitation  by  the  faithful  pastors  of 
our  own  beloved  Church ! 

Sabbath  schools  are  not  allowed  in  Prussia.  Mr.  K. 
instituted  them,  and  carried  them  on  quietly  for  three 
years,  but  they  were  put  down  by  the  Government  on 
the  ground  that  the  teachers  were  not  licensed.  Even 
meetings  for  prayer  are  not  allowed,  through  fear  lest 
republican  sentiments  should  be  promoted!  Yet  Mr. 
K.  holds  a  meeting  every  Wednesday  evening,  in  a  large 
saloon,  in  the  house  of  Baron  Kotswitz,  a  faithful  old 
gentleman  of  eighty-three  years  of  age,  and  this  is  filled 
to  overflowing  by  an  audience  of  above  400  persons. 
There  are  many  awakened  souls  in  Berlin  asking  the 
way  to  Zion,  with  their  faces  thitherward,  and  for  the 
most  part  these  are  either  in  the  highest  ranks  or  in  the 
poorest,  the  middle  class  being  the  most  ungodly. 

Several  of  the  faithful  pastors  visit  from  house  to  house 
through  their  parish,  as  amongst  ourselves,  but  generally 
with  the  help  of  a  Candidate  owing  to  the  vast  extent  of 
their  parishes.  The  division  of  parishes  is  hindered  by 
the  minister’s  salary  depending  in  great  part  on  the  mar¬ 
riage  fees,  &c.,  which  would  be  much  lessened  by  di¬ 
minishing  the  parishes.  The  schools  are  entirely  under 
the  care  of  the  clergy,  so  that  they  can  direct  the  books 
to  be  read,  and  the  portions  of  Scripture  to  be  learned. 
We  parted  from  this  affectionate  servant  of  Christ  after 
solemn  prayer. 

Next  day  we  visited  the  Normal  Seminary,  conducted 
by  Mr.  Diester weg,  reckoned  one  of  the  most  skilful 
normal  teachers  in  all  Prussia,  and  an  author  on  the 
subject.  We  found  him  in  the  upper  room,  instructing 
sixty  young  teachers  in  the  elements  of  logic.  Oral  cate- 


NORMAL  SEMINARY — MISSIONARY  INSTITUTION.  51  i 

chetical  instruction  seems  to  be  one  principle  of  the  sys¬ 
tem.  He  proposes  a  question,  and  all  who  are  ready  to 
answer  hold  up  the  forefinger.  He  names  one  who  an¬ 
swers,  then  another,  with  the  greatest  rapidity,  keeping 
up  a  continuous  stream  of  lively  examination  among  all. 
The  young  men  are  taught  in  this  way  for  two  years, 
when  they  are  introduced  into  the  classes  below  to  teach 
the  children,  the  director  privately  observing  and  correct¬ 
ing  their  faults.  We  went  through  six  classes  of  the 
school  in  which  this  process  was  going  on.  In  one,  the 
children  were  exercised  in  mental  arithmetic.  In  others, 
instruction  in  French,  Anatomy,  and  Natural  History, 
was  given,  all  in  the  same  lively  manner ;  and  in  one 
class,  they  read  a  brief  history  of  the  Reformation,  and 
repeated  a  hymn.  We  were  much  gratified  by  this  visit, 
and  longed  to  see  the  same  system  fully  realized  in  Scot¬ 
land. 

We  next  visited  the  Berlin  Missionary  Institution  in 
Sebastian  Street,  and  were  kindly  received  by  the  Direc¬ 
tors,  two  gentle  Christian  men.  They  have  a  hall  for 
prayer,  comfortable  apartments  for  the  students,  a  small 
library,  and  a  neat  chapel  adjoining.  Several  young 
men  were  studying  there  at  the  time,  who  have  devoted 
themselves  to  the  missionary  cause;  one  of  whom  was 
Jacobson,  a  converted  Jew,  full  of  love  to  his  Lord,  and 
under  training  to  carry  the  glad  tidings  to  his  brethren. 
The  expense  for  each  student  is  30Z.  a-year. 

The  same  evening  we  had  the  pleasure  of  calling  on 
Dr.  Robinson,  the  American  Professor,  author  of  Biblical 
Researches  in  Palestine, — a  most  valuable  work,  to 
which  frequent  references  have  been  made  in  a  former 
part  of  this  narrative.  He  was  then  residing  in  Berlin 
for  the  purpose  of  bringing  it  to  a  completion. 

Our  inquiries  being  now  completed  in  the  Prussian 
capital,  we  set  out  for  Hamburg  (which  is  thirty-two 
hours  distant)  late  at  night,  good  old  Eisner  seeing  us 
away,  and  supplying  us  with  tracts  for  distribution. 
Passing  through  Spandau  and  many  villages  during  the 
night,  we  came  next  day  about  noon  to  Perleberg,  and 
shortly  after  to  Ludwigslust.  This  latter  place  is  sur¬ 
rounded  with  gardens  and  pleasure-grounds,  having 
formerly  been  the  residence  of  the  Duke  of  Mecklenburg, 
in  whose  territory  it  lies.  At  evening  we  reached  Boit- 
zemburg,  then  crossed  a  strip  of  territory  belong- 


512  HAMBURG — MR.  MORITZ,  JEWISH  MISSIONARY. 

ing  to  Denmark,  and  early  next  morning  entered  Ham¬ 
burg. 

The  environs  of  Hamburg  are  beautiful;  fine  avenues 
of  trees  afford  shady  walks,  through  which  the  scenery 
of  the  river  Elbe  at  different  openings  meets  the  eye. 
Many  of  the  houses  are  old  and  picturesque.  There  are 
150,000  inhabitants;  and  it  is  reckoned  one  of  the  most 
vicious  towns  in  Europe.  The  city  forms  a  kind  of  re¬ 
public,  governed  by  a  senate,  who  seem  to  be  opponents 
of  the  truth.  The  established  religion  is  Lutheran,  but 
the  pastors  are  far  from  being  faithful  or  even  orthodox. 
A  little  before  our  visit,  two  Candidats  had  been  preach¬ 
ing  against  the  Divinity  of  Christ,  and  nothing  was  done 
to  check  them ;  whilst  another  faithful  Candidate  who 
printed  a  tract  opposed  to  Socinian  views,  was  tried,  fined, 
and  forbidden  to  preach  for  three  years.  In  the  whole 
Hamburg  territory,  there  are  twenty-six  Lutheran  pas¬ 
tors,  but  of  these,  only  six  have  come  boldly  forward  to  de¬ 
fend  the  truth.  One  member  of  senate,  who  is  a  faithful 
man,  has  published  a  protest  against  the  Socinianism  of 
some  of  the  ministers.  There  are  4000  English  residents 
in  this  town,  and  these  have  an  Episcopal  clergyman.  Mr. 
Rheder,  a  minister  of  the  Congregational  persuasion,  and 
a  worthy  man,  labours  quietly  among  his  flock,  and  is 
undisturbed.  Mr.  Oncken,  the  agent  to  the  Edinburgh 
Bible  Society,  preaches  to  a  small  Baptist  congregation, 
but  not  without  interruption. 

We  found  our  way  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Moritz,  mis¬ 
sionary  of  the  London  Society,  by  birth  a  Jew,  who  for 
thirty-two  years,  has  maintained  a  consistent  profession 
of  the  truth.  When  he  first  went  to  London,  before  his 
conversion,  he  lived  at  the  house  of  a  Jewess.  On  Satur¬ 
day,  instead  of  going  to  the  synagogue,  he  spent  the 
whole  day  in  going  through  the  city,  gazing  at  every 
novelty.  On  Sunday  morning,  he  was  astonished  at  the 
quietness  of  the  town,  and  still  more  when  he  saw  the 
shops  all  shut.  Inquiring  what  it  meant,  his  Jewish 
landlady  said,  “  the  people  of  England  are  a  God-fear¬ 
ing  people,  and  if  we  had  kept  our  Sabbath  as  they 
keep  theirs,  Messiah  would  have  come  long  ago.”  This 
word  from  the  lips  of  a  Jewess  was  the  first  arrow 
of  conviction  that  pierced  his  heart,  for  he  always 
thought  that  Christians  were  idolaters.  The  arrow 
remained,  and  never  left  him  till  he  was  brought  to  the 
feet  of  Jesus.  After  his  baptism,  he  read  in  a  newspaper 


MR  MORITZ — JEWS. 


513 


one  day  a  proposal  by  Alexander,  Emperor  of  Russia,  to 
establish  colonies  of  Jews  near  the  Sea  of  Azof,  where¬ 
upon  he  wrote  to  a  friend  in  St  Petersburg,  that  Gospel 
missionaries  should  first  be  sent  among  the  Russian 
Jews.  His  letter  was  laid  before  the  Emperor,  by  whose 
desire  he  was  immediately  engaged  in  that  work.  From 
1817  to  1825,  he  went  through  many  provinces  of  Russia, 
Volhynia,  Courland,  and  the  Crimea,  preaching  the  gos¬ 
pel  to  the  Jews  with  great  acceptance,  and  often  with 
success.  His  own  aunt  and  her  two  sons  were  the  first 
fruits  of  his  labours.  He  was  often  invited  to  p/each  in 
the  synagogues  of  the  Jews,  where  the  Jews  listened  with 
deep  interest.  Frequently,  in  order  to  attract  them,  he 
made  use  of  their  own  style,  and  conveyed  the  truth  in 
the  form  of  a  mashal  or  parable, — for  the  Jews  still  de¬ 
light  in  this  form  of  speech,  as  their  fathers  did*  Once 
in  the  synagogue  of  Kiow,  being  asked  to  preach,  he 
spoke  the  following  parable. — ■“  A  poor  Jew  wanted  very 
much  to  be  rich ;  he  therefore  put  a  bandage  on  his  eyes, 
that  he  might  pray  to  Mazal,  or  Fortune,  and  went  every¬ 
where  through  the  streets,  looking  up  to  heaven,  and 
crying,  ‘O  Mazal,  Mazal  make  me  rich.’  At  length, 
Mazal  threw  down  a  great  bag  full  of  precious  treasure, 
which  fell  right  before  him.  The  poor  man  did  not  take 
off  the  bandage,  but  ran  on,  and  stumbled  over  the  trea¬ 
sure.  Neither  did  he  even  then  turn  back  to  see  what  it 
was,  but  went  on,  still  crying,  ‘  O  Mazal,  Mazal,  make 
me  rich.’  Mazal  seeing  her  gift  neglected,  took  it  up 
again  into  heaven,  and  the  Jew  remained  a  beggar  as 
before.”  The  Jews  present  requested  an  explanation  of 
the  parable,  which  he  gave  them,  by  referring  to  Isaiah 
ix.  6,  and  the  2d  Psalm.  A  deep  silence  followed.  At 
last  some  young  men  asked,— And  will  the  bandage 
always  be  on  our  eyes  1  He  told  them  to  pray  that  the 
Spirit  of  God  might  take  it  away.  Five  of  these  young 
men  seemed  to  receive  saving  impressions  that  evem 
ing.f 

Judg.  ix.  7. 

t  In  one  of  their  own  books  on  Ps.  xxx,  22,  they  tell  this  mashal 
by  way  of  illustration. — A  poor  man  was  travelling  on  a  hot  day, 
carrying  a  heavy  load  upon  his  back.  A  rich  man  passing  by  in  his 
chariot  took  pity  on  him,  and  invited  him  to  take  a  seat  in  his  chariot 
behind.  Shortly  after,  on  turning  round,  the  rich  man  saw  the  pilgrim 
still  oppressed  with  the  load  upon  his  back,  and  asked  why  he  didT not 
lay  it  on  the  chariot.  The  poor  man  said  that  it  was  enough  that  he 

had  consented  to  carry  himself  in  his  chariot,  and  he  could  not  pre- 

* 


514 


RUSSIA  AS  A  MISSIONARY  FIELD. 


In  1819,  he  was  in  Dorissow,  preaching  the  gospel  to 
the  Jews,  when  a  rabbi  from  Kletsk  (six  German  miles 
distant),  accompanied  by  some  of  his  young  men,  called, 
and  asked  why  he  did  not  come  to  their  town  to  preach 
the  gospel  to  them.  Mr.  Moritz  said  he  was  willing  to 
come  if  they  would  receive  him.  The  rabbi  said,  “We 
will  treat  you  kindly,  I  and  my  people  will  hear  you,  and 
I  will  tell  them  to  treat  you  kindly.”  Accordingly 
he  went,  and  was  well  received ;  he  declared  the  gospel 
freely  to  them,  and  gave  away  all  his  tracts  and  New 
Testaments.  He  did  not  hear  at  the  time  of  any  particu¬ 
lar  result ;  but  a  year  ago,  letters  came  from  Wr arsaw 
from  forty  Jews  of  Kletsk,  asking  if  one  Moritz  was  still 
living,  and  where  he  was,  offering  if  he  was  at  Warsaw 
to  come  there  and  be  baptized.  “  Cast  thy  bread  upon 
the  waters,  for  thou  shalt  find  it  after  many  days” 

This  excellent  missionary  regards  Russia  as  by  far  the 
most  important  field  for  a  Jewish  mission.  There  are  at 
least  two  millions  of  Jews  in  European  Russia,  not  in¬ 
cluding  Poland,  and  all  are  Talmudists  except  in  Cour- 
land,  where  a  little  more  light  has  broken  in.  But  there 
seems  little  hope  of  obtaining  leave  for  Protestants  to  la¬ 
bour  amongst  Israel  there,  for  the  Government  are  doing 
all  they  can  to  crush  Protestantism.  The  Basle  mission¬ 
aries  who  went  to  the  Caucasus,  obtained  permission  to 
baptize  their  converts,  but  a  year  after  they  were  all  sent 
out  of  the  country.  In  the  regions  bordering  on  the 
Baltic,  Protestants  marrying  Greeks  were  formerly  al¬ 
lowed  to  bring  up  some  of  their  children  as  Protestants, 
but  now  all  must  be  Greeks.  Before,  when  Protestants 
were  far  from  a  Protestant  minister,  the  Greek  priests 
baptized  the  children,  allowing  the  children  to  remain 
Protestants  ;  but  now  all  such  children  must  be  brought 
up  as  Greeks. 

From  Mr.  Moritz  we  obtained  the  same  favourable 
account  of  the  Karaites  in  Russia  as  that  given  before. 
There  are  two  colonies  of  them  near  Wilna,  inhabiting  a 
town  and  a  village,  the  one  having  1500,  and  the  other 
300,  who  support  themselves  by  cultivating  the  ground. 
At  a  place  called  Kareimisky  Neustadt  (“  new  town  be- 


snme  to  ask  more.  “  0  foolish  man”  (was  the  reply),  “  if  I  am  willing 
and  able  to  carry  you,  am  I  not  able  also  to  carry  your  burden  ?”  Thus 
k  la  with  God,  when  he  once  receives  a  poor  sinner,  if  he  accepts  his 
person,  he  will  carry  his  burden  of  cares  too. 


JEWS  IN  RUSSIA— SWEDEN— GERMANY.  515 

'onging  to  Karaites”)  in  Lithuania,  they  are  employed  in 
agriculture,  and  the  cultivation  of  hops  and  cucumbers. 
In  the  Crimea,  there  are  above  4000,  who  are  nearly  all 
farmers.  They  are  a  very  moral  and  trustworthy  peo¬ 
ple.  Once  they  did  not  receive  the  prophets,  but  only 
the  law,  but  now  they  receive  both  as  divine.  They 
keep  the  externals  of  the  law  very  strictly,  never  kind¬ 
ling  a  fire  on  Sabbath  in  the  coldest  winters ;  but  they 
are  full  of  self-righteousness. 

Jews  in  Russia  are  now  taken  into  the  army,  so  that 
no  Jew  can  leave  the  country  without  special  permission  ;* 
yet  still  they  succeed  in  obtaining  passports  by  bribery. 

In  Sweden,  of  which  Mr.  M.  is  a  native,  there  are 
only  250  families  of  Jews,  and  these  are  obliged  to  live 
in  four  cities.  At  Stockholm  there  are  600  Jews;  at 
Gottenburg,  450;  at  Narkoping,  100;  and  at  Carlscrona, 
40.  Mr.  M.  had  visited  them  all,  and  so  little  hinderance 
is  there  in  the  way  of  labouring  among  them,  that  one 
of  the  Bishops  offered  him  a  church  in  which  he  might 
preach  to  the  Jews.  In  Denmark  it  is  otherwise ;  there 
are  2600  Jews  in  its  capital,  Copenhagen,  and  the  same 
number  in  Altona,  and  about  1000  more  throughout  the 
country;  but  no  missionary  is  allowed  to  seek  their 
salvation. 

Mr.  Moritz  having  also  visited  other  parts  of  Germany, 
gave  us  information  concerning  them.  In  Baden  there 
are  20,000  Jews ;  in  Bavaria  30,000 ;  and  in  Wurtemburg 
1200.  In  Baden ,  the  greater  part  of  the  Jews  have  cast 
away  the  Talmud,  except  those  in  Carlsruhe.  In  Bava¬ 
ria, ,  there  is  a  mixture  of  Rationalists  and  Talmudists, 
and  little  has  been  done  for  the  Jews  there,  two-thirds 
of  the  population  being  Roman  Catholics.  In  Wurtem¬ 
burg ,  the  most  of  the  Jews  are  Rationalists,  but  very 
friendly.  No  missionary  has  ever  been  stationed  there, 
though  it  is  a  most  inviting  field  of  labour,  and  he  would 
find  delightful  Christian  families,  who  love  Israel,  in  al¬ 
most  every  town  and  village ;  and  were  his  labours  bless¬ 
ed,  might  be  permitted  to  establish  around  him  a  con¬ 
gregation  of  converted  Jews.  The  desirableness  of  form¬ 
ing  such  a  congregation  was  a  subject  on  which  Mr. 
Moritz  often  dwelt.  “You  will  never  make  a  deep  im¬ 
pression  on  the  Jewish  mind,”  (he  would  often  say,) 

“  until  you  form  such  a  congregation.  If  your  church 
would  lay  down  her  plan,  and  present  it  to  the  King  of 


*  See  Isa.  xliii.  6. 


516 


HAMBURG — JEWS. 


Prussia,  you  would,  no  doubt,  receive  permission  to 
gather  all  the  converts  round  the  missionary,  as  in  the 
Moravian  settlements,  so  that  they  might  support  them¬ 
selves,  sympathize  with  one  another,  and  be  nourished 
by  sound  teaching.  I  know  a  great  many  Jewish  fami¬ 
lies  in  .Wurtemburg  who  would  at  once  join  such  a  con¬ 
gregation  ;  but,  at  present,  they  are  kept  back  in  some 
degree  by  the  feeling,  that  most  of  those  who  profess 
Christianity  around  them  are  infidels ;  while,  at  the  same 
time,  their  convictions  are  repressed  by  the  difficulties 
and  painful  struggles  that  are  in  the  way  of  converts.” 

Hamburg  itself  presents  a  difficult  field  for  mission¬ 
ary  labour.  There  are  9000  resident  Jews,  and  a  fluctu¬ 
ating  class  of  travelling  Jews  from  Poland,  Bavaria,  and 
even  occasionally  from  Constantinople  and  Asia,  who 
come  here  in  the  way  of  trade.  The  majority  are  Tal¬ 
mudists,  but  far  from  being  devout;  the  New  School 
Jews  have  an  elegant  synagogue,  where  they  use  an 
organ  and  German  tunes  to  their  hymns. 

When  Mr.  Moritz  first  arrived,  he  sent  a  circular  of 
intimation  to  the  Jews,  and  immediately  great  crowds 
visited  him.  Many  soon  threatened  to  kill  him ;  and  the 
rabbis  both  of  the  Old  and  New  School  used  all  their  in¬ 
fluence,  so  that  in  a  little  while  all  Jews  ceased  to  come 
to  him.  He  next  opened  a  school,  and  taught  twenty- 
four  poor  Jewish  children  for  several  months;  but  the 
rabbis  threatened  to  withdraw  their  proportion  of  alms, 
and  so  all  were  removed  from  him.  At  the  time  of  our 
visit,  Mr.  M.  preached  every  Tuesday  in  his  own  house 
to  about  seventy  hearers  ;  of  whom,  however,  the  most 
were  Christians,  with  four  or  five  Jews  occasionally. 
He  has  found  some  fruit  of  his  labours  among  them. 
Many  of  the  foreign  Jews  who  visit  Hamburg,  come  to 
him  for  a  tract  or  a  Bible,  when  he  opens  to  them  the 
gospel,  and  often  they  come  again.  That  very  week 
ten  such  inquirers  had  been  with  him.  The  Jews  have 
great  influence  over  the  Government,  two-thirds  of  them 
being  rich,  and  holding  the  greater  part  of  the  trade  in 
their'hands.  They  have  a  police  of  their  own,  who  per¬ 
mit  no  foreign  Jew  to  stay  more  than  two  days  without 
their  leave; "if  he  is  suspected  of  inquiring  into  Christi¬ 
anity,  he  is  sent  off  immediately.  Still  Hamburg  is  a 
most  important  station,  and  we  heartily  thanked  God 
when  we  found  so  warm-hearted  a  missionary  there, 
“  going  forth  weeping,  bearing  precious  seed.” 

On  our  way  to  the  old  synagogue,  we  met  Mr.  Oncken, 


NEW  SCHOOL  SYNAGOGUE. 


51 7 


newly  arrived  from  a  visit  to  Denmark,  a  kind,  intelli¬ 
gent  Christian,  who  went  with  us.  The  building  was 
large,  and  well  filled  with  careless-looking  Jews,  with 
nothing  distinctive  in  their  dress  except  the  Tallith  worn 
by  some.  They  have  little  real  devotion,  and  seem  to 
cleave  to  the’  superstitions  of  the  rabbis  in  outward  form 
only. 

We  next  visited  the  New  School  synagogue  or  temple, 
“a  temple  without  a  Shecinah ,”  as  Mr.  Moritz  well  ex¬ 
pressed  it.  The  rabbi,  Mr.  Klee,  dressed  with  a  small 
Jew  cap  and  Tallith ,  black  cloak  and  bands,  was  in  the 
pulpit,  reciting  a  German  hymn  with  much  energy.  He 
then  gave  a  short  preface,  and  read  the  text  in  the  same 
way  as  the  Lutheran  ministers;  and  delivered  with 
much  elocution,  a  sermon  on  patience  and  submission 
to  the  will  of  God.  He  quoted  a  Christian  author  and 
several  hymns,  and  even  spoke  of  Christian  patience. 
There  were  about  200  present,  the  ladies  occupying  the 
gallery  and  a  side  compartment.  When  the  sermon 
was  finished,  and  the  blessing  pronounced  in  the  mode 
of  the  Lutherans,  the  preacher  withdrew,  and  a  German 
hymn  was  given  out,  the  organ  playing  one  of  the  fine 
national  psalm  tunes.  Another  rabbi  then  began  the 
Hebrew  prayer,  but  most  withdrew  during  this  service. 
The  peculiarity  of  their  prayer-book  is,  that  they  have 
erased  all  mention  of  Messiah.  “  Have  I  been  a  wilder¬ 
ness  unto  Israel?  a  land  of  darkness?  wherefore  say 
my  people,  We  are  lords ;  we  will  come  no  more  unto 
thee?”*  It  is  painfully  interesting  to  remark,  that 
though  they  borrow  so  many  of  the  externals  of  the 
Lutherans,  they  have  a  most  bitter  hatred  at  Christi¬ 
anity.  Like  the  father  of  young  Hannibal,  they  admin¬ 
ister  an  oath  to  their  children  at  confirmation,  to  the 
effect  that  they  will  never  become  Christians.  Mr.  Moritz 
had  frequently  conversed  with  a  young  Jewess,  who  had 
deep  convictions  of  the  truth,  but  who  always  waved  any 
decided  expression  of  her  views  by  saying,  “  Ich  habe 
geschworen ,  Ich  habe  geschworen “  I  have  sworn,  I  have 
sworn.” 

The  same  evening  we  walked  out  at  the  Hamburg 
gate,  and  along  the  Hamburg  Bar,  famous  or  rather 
infamous  over  all  the  world  as  a  scene  of  deepest  profli¬ 
gacy,  where  many  a  British  sailor  has  been  hurried  on 
to  ruin,  and  where  the  poor  Jews  are  too  often  made  to 


*  Jer.  ii.  31. 


518 


HAMBURG — NEWS  FROM  HOME. 


share  in  the  sin  of  Christians.  At  the  end  of  this  walk 
we  came  to  Altona,  connected  with  Hamburg,  yet  in 
the  province  of  Holstein,  and  belonging  to  Denmark,  a 
fine  town,  containing  30,000  inhabitants,  with  a  shady 
walk  under  linden-trees,  and  a  beautiful  view  of  the 
winding  Elbe,  and  a  tributary  entering  it.  It  contains 
2600  Jews,  and  many  of  the  shops  were  open,  though  it 
was  their  Sabbath. 

It  was  this  day  that  we  first  heard  of  the  wonderful 
work  of  God  that  had  lately  taken  place  in  Scotland. 
Mr.  Rheder,  who  showed  us  much  kindness,  brought  us 
a  newspaper,  containing  brief  references  to  the  Revivals 
at  Kilsyth  and  Dundee,  thinking  that  we  would  be  able 
to  give  him  fuller  details ;  but  atl  our  letters  having  been 
sent  to  Warsaw,  we  were  in  utter  ignorance  of  what 
had  occurred,  God  having  reserved  the  good  news  till 
our  wanderings  were  nearly  done.  The  notices  were 
of  the  briefest  and  most  imperfect  kind;  and  though 
Dundee  was  named,  we  did  not  know  how  nearly  we 
were  interested  in  the  shower  of  blessing.  We  were, 
however,  filled  with  joy,  by  hearing  that  God  had  poured 
out  his  Spirit  as  in  the  days  of  old ;  and  we  felt  it  a  spe¬ 
cial  kindness  to  ourselves,  that  the  glad  tidings  should 
meet  us  when  we  were  almost  in  sight  of  our  native 
land.  It  appeared  also  worthy  of  special  notice  and 
thanksgiving,  that  God  had  done  this  in  the  very  year 
when  the  Church  of  Scotland  had  stretched  out  her  hand 
to  seek  the  welfare  of  Israel,  and  to  speak  peace  to  all 
their  seed.  And  we  felt  that  the  same  promises  that  had 
so  often  supported  us  in  our  trials,  had  been  made  good 
also  to  our  Church  at  home— “  Blessed  is  he  that  blesseth 
thee:”  “Pray  for  the  peace  of  Jerusalem;  they  shall 
prosper  that  love  thee.” 

Those  only  who  have  experienced  what  it  is  to  have 
been  long  separated  from  a  beloved  flock,  and  in  distant 
solitudes  to  pour  out  the  heart  to  God  in  their  behalf, 
can  understand  the  feelings  with  which  we  now  longed 
to  visit  our  parishes  again,  and  to  know  if  they  had 
shared  in  the  grace  that  had  dropped  on  the  pastures  of 
the  wilderness. 

(Nov.  3.  Sabbath.)  Mr.  M‘Cheyne  preached  in  Mr. 
Rheder’s  chapel,  on  the  words  “  They  overcame  him  by 
the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  by  the  word  of  their  testimony.” 
It  was  the  first  time  he  had  preached  since  laid  aside 


ARRIVAL  IN  SCOTLAND. 


519 


by  that  Providence  which  had  led  to  our  mission  being 
proposed.  W  e  afterwards  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  sit¬ 
ting  down  at  the  Lord’s  table  with  a  small  company  of 
serious  people,  among  whom  were  four  converts  of  the 
house  of  Israel.  Mr.  Bonar  addressed  the  communicants, 
and  then  preached  in  the  afternoon  on  Jer.  xxxi.  3 — 7, 
giving  a  sketch  of  what  we  had  seen  of  God’s  ancient 
people.  In  the  evening  we  had  a  pleasant  meeting  in 
the  house  of  Mr.  Moritz,  who  read  the  I02d  Psalm,  and 
sent  us  away  with  affectionate  prayer. 

A  little  after  midnight  we  left  Hamburg,  and  came 
to  Shulau,  where  we  embarked  on  board  the  Lonsdale 
steamer  for  London. 

After  a  prosperous  voyage  we  entered  the  Thames  on 
the  morning  of  the  third  day  (Nov.  6),  and  the  same 
afternoon  arrived  in  London.  After  spending  a  few  days 
there  among  the  many  kind  friends  who  had  been  inter¬ 
ested  in  our  wanderings,  we  hastened  to  Scotland,  and, 
“according  to  the  good  hand  of  our  God  upon  us,” 
arrived  in  peace. 

We  were  welcomed  home  by  the  Committee  of  our 
Church  who  had  commended  us  to  the  Lord  when  we 
went  forth,  and  solemn  thanksgiving  was  offered  for  our 
return,  with  earnest  prayer  for  our  two  elder  brethren 
whom  we  had  expected  to  find  arrived  before  us,  but 
who  were  detained  by  dangerous  illness  abroad.  A  few 
days  after,  the  Commission  of  the  General  Assembly  re¬ 
ceived  us  in  the  same  spirit  of  love,  and  requested  to 
hear  from  our  lips  “  concerning  the  Jews  that  had  escaped, 
which  were  left  of  the  captivity,  and  concerning  Jeru¬ 
salem  and  “  we  rehearsed  all  that  God  had  done  with 
us,  and  how  he  had  opened  the  door  of  faith  to  his  an¬ 
cient  people.”  Not  less  fervent  was  the  welcome  we  re¬ 
ceived  from  the  people  of  our  respective  parishes  on  the 
day  we  returned  to  them. 

And  now  that  we  can  look  back  on  all  the  way  that 
God  led  us,  we  are  constrained  to  say,  to  the  praise  of 
the  glory  of  his  grace,  that  He  has  blessed  this  under¬ 
taking  from  the  beginning  to  the  end.  Both  in  the  towns 
and  rural  parishes  of  Scotland,  a  deep,  and  we  trust, 
Scriptural  interest  has  been  excited  in  behalf  of  Israel ; 
an  interest  which  has  penetrated  to  the  very  poorest  of 
our  people.  While  going  from  parish  to  parish  to  tell 
the  things  we  have  seen  and  heard,  there  is  one  grati¬ 
fication  we  have  never  missed — namely,  the  presence 


520  RESOLUTION  OP  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY. 

of  the  aged,  patriarchal-looking  men  of  our  Scottish  pea¬ 
santry,  (seated  ofttimes  on  the  pulpit-stairs,)  that  they 
might  hear  of  “  the  seed  of  Abraham,  God’s  friend,” — 
the  nation  for  whose  ingathering  their  godly  sires  used 
fervently  to  pray,  as  they  dropt  a  tear  over  the  narrative 
of  their  miseries. 

It  was  a  considerable  time  before  Dr.  Black  and  Dr. 
Keith  were  able  to  return.  The  former  was  detained 
some  months  at  Vienna,  and  the  latter  till  the  following 
spring  at  Pesth  in  Hungary,  by  severe  illness.  Both, 
however,  returned  by  the  blessing  of  God  with  renovated 
health,  bringing  with  them  much  interesting  and  useful 
intelligence  regarding  the  countries  they  had  visited. 

Immediately  on  their  arrival,  a  report  was  drawn  up, 
and  submitted  to  the  General  Assembly  of  1840,  when  it 
was  unanimously  resolved,  that  the  cause  of  Israel 

SHOULD  FROM  THAT  TIME  FORM  ONE  OF  THE  GREAT  MIS¬ 
SIONARY  schemes  of  our  Church.  In  July  1841,  a  similar 
resolution  was  passed  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Ireland.  So  thus  one  grand  re¬ 
sult  of  this  undertaking  has  been,  that  the  venerable 
Church  of  Scotland,  in  days  of  darkness  and  perplexity, 
along  with  her  revived  and  vigorous  offspring  in  Ireland, 
has  been  led  to  acknowledge  herself  debtor  both  to  the 
Jews  and  to  the  Greeks,  and  humbly  to  imitate  the  Apos¬ 
tolic  Church  of  Jerusalem,  by  sending  forth  some  of  her 
sons  to  the  heathen,  and  some  to  the  circumcision.* 
True,  when  we  turn  our  eyes  on  the  millions  of  the 
blinded  heathen,  and  the  scattered  bones  of  Israel  that 
whiten  the  valley  of  vision,  we  feel  that  absolutely  no¬ 
thing  has  been  done  at  all  adequate  to  the  awful  need  of 
a  perishing  world,  and  the  weight  of  our  responsibility. 
Yet  a  beginning  has  been  made;  the  cry,  “  Come  over 
and  help  us,”  is  now  distinctly  heard  in  the  remotest 
corners  of  our  land.  And  all  who  take  pleasure  in 
tracing  the  steps  of  the  Son  of  man,  as  he  walks  amidst 
his  golden  candlesticks,  cannot  but  thank  God  that  these 
two  Churches  have  now  come  forth  in  their  full  Evan¬ 
gelistic  character — preaching  Christ  and  him  crucified 
to  their  people  at  home,  and  stretching  out  their  hands 
abroad,  with  the  offer  of  the  water  of  life  to  the  distant 
Gentiles  and  the  dispersed  of  Judah.  “  Not  unto  us,  O 
Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  unto  thy  name  give  glory,  for 
thy  mercy  and  for  thy  truth’s  sake.” 


*  Gal.  ii.  9. 


521 


APPENDIX. 


No.  I. 


PROGRAMME  OF  THE  COURSE  OF  INSTRUCTION  PURSUED 
IN  THE  RELIGIOUS  SCHOOLS  OF  THE  ISRAELITISH 
UNIVERSITY  OF  LEGHORN,  IN  THE  YEAR  1839. 

Institution  for  Males. 

RELIGIOUS  AND  MORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

Elementary  Schools. 

1st  School — Formation  of  syllables,  exercise  on  the  vowel 
points,  and  the  reading  of  the  Hebrew  tongue.  The  cur- 
rent  reading  of  the  principal  prayers.  (The  system  of 
mutual  instruction.) 

2d  School — Catechetical  instruction,  moral  and  religious  :  a 
first  or  elementary  class,  and  a  second  or  superior  class. 
3d  School — Reading  and  translating  the  prayers.  The  read- 
ing  of  the  Pentateuch,  and  some  chapters  of  the 
Prophets  (mtafln,)  with  the  tonic  accents 
(O'Djit a.) 

.  Italian  rendering  of  Hebrew  vocables.  Rules  for 

the  vowel  points  and  tonic  accents. 

More  Advanced  Schools. 

1st  School — Complete  and  progressive  reading  of  the  Bible, 
and  the  oral  rendering  of  it  into  the  vernacular  language. 
1st  Class — The  Pentateuch  and  first  historical  books. 

2d  Class — The  other  books  of  the  Bible. 

Rudiments  of  Hebrew  Grammar.  Religious  duties 
of  the  Jews. 

Hebrew  text,  read  and  translated,  of  Maimonides 
nyj1?  *pjn,  Part  I.,  abridged. 

Hebrew  text,  read  and  translated,  of  Jarchi  (itm)  on 
the  Pentateuch. 

Hebrew  text,  read  and  translated,  along  with  the 
Chaldee  paraphrase  of  Onkelos. 

2d  School — A  course  of  Hebrew  grammar. 

3d  School — Oral  and  written  translation  of  the  Bible. 

Selections  and  moral  illustrations  of  the  same. 

46 


522 


APPENDIX. 


HIGHER  RELIGIOUS  INSTRUCTION. 


Preparatory  School. 

1st  Class— The  first  Book  of  the  Pentateuch,  with  Jarchi’s* 
Commentary  translated  and  illustrated. 

The  four  first  historical  books  of  the  Bible,  with 
grammatical  and  philological  comments,  miXD 
P'X  nnxDt  in,  *•  the  book  called  Fortress  of 
David,  and  Fortress  of  Zion.) 

2d  Class — Continuation  and  conclusion  of  the  Bible,  with 
grammatical  and  philological  comments,  (as  be- 


fore.) 

Introduction  to  rabbinical  and  theological  studies 
(o*?Y)?  rvo’Sn  iix'p,  t.  e.  an  abridgment  of  the 
Talmudical  work  called  “  Everlasting  Ways.”) 

The  ritual  of  Caro— rules  regarding  the  prayers 
(vol.  i.  p.  1.) 

Select  treatises  of  the  Mishna.  (The  Mishna  of 
rabbi  BartenoraA 


Literary  School. 

Higher  Hebrew  Grammar. 

Translation  of  Themes  from  Italian  into  Hebrew.* 

Complete  course  of  Biblical  Illustration — including  grammati¬ 
cal,  moral,  philological,  and  archaeological  comments. 

Rabbinical  School. 

Talmud — select  treatises,  with  illustrations  (such  as  rn3l3, 
“Blessings  before  meat;”  natP»  “Sabbath;”  toi,  “Fes¬ 
tivals.”) 

Maimonides — select  illustrations  (such  as  nvnDN  nrOND,  “  for¬ 
bidden  meats.”) 

A  complete  course  from  the  Rituary  of  Caro,  with  illustrations. 

*  As  a  specimen  of  the  way  in  which  they  teach  the  scholar  to  write  He¬ 
brew,  we  subjoin  the  following.  The  master  of  the  class  took  up  a  book  that 
was  lying  by  him,  and  read  the  following  sentence  in  Italian.  “I  counsel 
thee  to  read  with  the  pen  in  your  hand,  and  to  write  on  the  book  the  useful 
and  new  ideas.  This  is  the  best  means, of  imprinting  them  in  your  minds; 
and  farther,  being  in  this  way  able  always  to  find  them,  they  will  be  help¬ 
ful  to  you  in  your  conduct  when  they  are  good.”  A  lad,  in  the  course  of  a 
few  minutes,  thus  rendered  the  passage  into  Hebrew,  using  the  current 
Hebrew  hand : — 

matyncn  idd3  ainaSi  oino  ainn  op  d’iod3  Nip1?  o:>nx  'jx 
nriNtio  ni  do:)1?:!  did'1?  aian  "pin  xtn  nr  ruanm 

{Dona  onto  OD'typD  by  vm  dSij?1?  d  hin  tmc1?  D’in 


APPENDIX.  523 

The  commentaries  of  the  Mishna  (such  as  nwn  tytn,  “  New 
Year;”  nzno,  “Feast  of  Tabernacles.”) 

Opinions  of  the  rabbis  on  questions  regarding  ceremonies. 

CIVIL  INSTRUCTION. 


Elementary  Schools. 

1st  School — Formation  of  syllables  and  reading.  Penman, 
ship,  Arithmetic,  the  four  first  rules  and  fractions.  (The 
system  of  mutual  instruction.) 

2d  School — Instructive  readings. 

3d  School — Drawing.  Geometrical  figures — principles  of 
ornament  and  architecture. 

More  Advanced  Schools. 

1st  School — Penmanship  and  Orthography  completed.  Higher 
arithmetic,  applied  to  Commerce.  Italian  Grammar. 

2d  School — “  Scrittura  Doppia.”  System  of  weights,  mea¬ 
sures,  and  coins. 

Mercantile  Correspondence. 

3d  School — The  French  language. 

4th  School — Elements  of  history,  geography  and  cosmography. 

5th  School — Lessons  and  exercises  in  vocal  music,  as  used  in 
the  sacred  songs  of  the  synagogue. 

Institution  for  Females. 

I.  Religious  and  Moral  Instruction. 

Formation  of  syllables,  exercises  on  the  vowel  points,  and 
reading  of  Hebrew. 

Reading  of  the  daily  and  common  prayers,  in  Hebrew. 

Oral  translation  of  the  same. 

The  Catechism. 

Daily  reading,  in  the  assembled  classes,  of  moral  and  reli¬ 
gious  books,  with  illustrations  and  applications. 

II.  Civil  Instruction. 

Formation  of  syllables,  and  reading  of  Italian.  (The  system 
of  mutual  instruction.) 

Instructive  moral  readings. 

Penmanship. 

Arithmetic. 

III.  Instruction  in  the  Common  Domestic  Arts. 

1.  Sewing,  knitting,  &c. 

2.  Embroidery,  and  works  of  the  needle. 


524 


APPENDIX. 


No.  II. 


VALUE  OF  THE  COINS  MENTIONED  IN  THE  COURSE  OF 

THIS  WORK. 

A  Piastre  in  Syria,  =  lid.  =  3  cents. 

in  Asia  Minor,  =  2d.  =4  cents. 

...  in  Moldavia,  =  3d.  =  6  cents. 

Harieh  in  Egypt  and  Syria,  =  9  piastres,  =  27  cents. 
A  Para,  =  40th  part  of  a  piastre. 

A  Zwanzig,  =  8d.  =16  cents. 

A  Kreutzer,  ^  of  a  Zwanzig,  less  than  a  half-penny. 

A  Polish  Gulden,  =  6d.  =12  cents. 

A  Preuss  Gulden,  =  2s.  =  48  cents. 

We  may  subjoin  a  specimen  of  the  endless  variety  of  Turkish 
coins  which  annoy  and  perplex  the  traveller.  At  Smyrna,  the  fol¬ 
lowing  note  of  the  value  of  coins  was  given  us  along  with  our  bag 
of  money. 


Piastres. 

Paras. 

133  Duckisly,  at  value  of  9f  j  piastres, 

=  1280 

5 

80  Rubbi  Zenzerly, 

9|8 

=  760 

10£  Addly  Adzem, 

19 

=  199 

20 

5 \  Addly  Shdeed, 

17 

=  93 

20 

64  Spanish  Dollars, 

23 

=  1472 

6  Austrian  Dollars, 

22 

=  132 

20  Fannus, 

11 

=  220 

4  Rissilik, 

I7i 

=  70 

2  five  Piastre  Pieces, 

=  10 

2  five  Para  Pieces, 

10 

4237 

15 

No.  III. 

HISTORY  OF  RABBI  SIMEON  BEN  YOCHAI. 

We  give  the  following  as  one  out  of  a  thousand  specimens  of 
Jewish  credulity. — Rabbi  Simeon  is  said  to  have  lived  in  the 
second  or  third  century.  One  day  when  some  of  them  were  met 
together,  a  rabbi  named  Pupas,  who  had  visited  Rome,  related  to 
his  friends  the  wonders  he  had  seen, — dwelling  especially  upon  the 
works  of  public  utility,  such  as  the  bridges,  the  baths,  and  the 
highways.  Rabbi  Simeon  was  much  displeased  at  his  commenda- 


APPENDIX. 


525 


tion  of  the  Romans,  saying,  that  all  they  had  in  view  was  self-ex¬ 
altation.  Upon  this,  rabbi  Pupas,  deeply  offended  at  being  contra¬ 
dicted,  went  to  Rome  and  informed  against  rabbi  Simeon.  He 
was,  accordingly,  summoned  to  Rome  ;  but  for  a  long  time  escaped 
the  vigilance  of  the  police.  On  one  of  these  occasions,  when  the 
police  were  in  close  pursuit  of  Simeon  (who  was  in  company  with 
his  son  Eliezer,)  God  revealed  to  him  a  cave,  in  which  was  a  fig- 
tree  and  a  spring  of  water.  In  this  cave,  both  of  them  took  shelter, 
and  were  nourished  twelve  years  on  the  fruit  of  the  tree,  and 
refreshed  by  the  spring  of  water.  During  this  long  time  they  were 
instructed  in  the  cabbala  by  the  prophet  Elijah.  On  coming  out 
of  the  cave  at  the  end  of  twelve  years,  so  absorbed  were  they  in  the 
study  of  the  cabbala — the  only  true  way  of  knowing  God — that 
they  looked  on  every  secular  pursuit  as  profanity,  unworthy  of  men 
created  in  the  likeness  of  God.  By  their  frowns  they  consumed 
many  towns  and  villages,  with  hundreds  of  people,  and  the  cattle 
that  were  ploughing  in  the  fields  within  their  sight.  On  this,  God 
commanded  them  to  return  back  to  the  cave,  lest  the  whole  world 
should  be  consumed  by  them ;  and  there  they  remained  other 
twelve  years.  During  this  period  rabbi  Simeon  composed  the 
Book  of  Zohar ,  still  enjoying  the  instruction  of  the  prophet  Elijah. 
On  leaving  the  cave  the  second  time,  the  frowns  of  rabbi  Eliezer 
were  as  destructive  as  rabbi  Simeon’s  had  been  the  first  time,  but 
the  blessing  of  rabbi  Simeon  restored  all  that  rabbi  Eliezer  laid 
waste.  They  hid  the  Zohar ,  in  the  cave,  where  it  was  found  400 
years  after,  the  roll  being  as  fresh  as  if  written  only  yesterday. 
Pilgrimages  are  performed  to  the  rabbi’s  grave  at  Marona  every 
year  by  Jews  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  They  remain  at  it  three 
days,  spending  the  time  in  mirth  and  festivity.  Often  hundreds 
of  pounds  worth  of  shawls,  dipped  in  oil,  are  burned  in  his  honour. 
Vows  are  made  to  him,  and  prayers  presented  for  deliverance  from 
any  misfortune.  Even  in  the  time  of  the  late  earthquake,  hundreds 
came  to  pour  out  their  prayers  over  his  grave. 


No.  IV. 


JEWS  OF  CORFU. 

Communicated  by  a  Resident  there.  (See  page  392.) 

The  number  of  Jews  in  the  island  of  Corfu  is  about  2000.  They 
all  reside  in  a  particular  quarter  of  the  town,  but  are  not  separated 
from  the  rest  of  the  population  by  any  enclosed  wall,  as  is  the  case 
at  Rome,  Ancona,  and  other  places  in  Italy.  They  have  two 
synagogues,  and  two  small  oratories  There  is  some  trifling  dif¬ 
ference  in  the  ceremonies  performed  at  the  two  synagogues,  but 
not  such  as  to  prevent  a  Jew,  who  is  in  the  habit  of  attending  one 
of  the  synagogues,  from  frequenting  and  worshipping  at  the  other. 
The  Jews  at  Corfu  I  consider  a  very  unfavourable  specimen  of 
their  race.  They  are,  in  general,  filthy  in  the  extreme  in  their 

46* 


526 


APPENDIX. 


houses  and  in  their  habits,  ignorant  and  ill-informed  beyond  all 
belief,  very  few  of  them  knowing  even  the  heads  of  their  own 
interesting  history.  Their  morality  is  at  a  very  low  ebb,  but  cer. 
tainly  not  lower  than  the  mass  of  the  Christian  population  around 
them  The  better  class  of  Jews  are  principally  merchants  and 
shopkeepers  (the  greater  number  drapers,)  the  middle  class  are 
artisans,  and  of  tailors  there  is  an  immense  number,  the  clothing 
both  for  town  and  country  being  principally  made  by  them.  The 
lowest  class,  of  which  there  is  a  great  number,  are  dealers  in  old 
clothes,  common  porters,  seamen,  and  gatherers  of  rubbish. 

They  have  one  good  quality,  which  is  industry,  and,  as  a  natural 
consequence,  in  the  midst  of  a  wretched,  starving  population,  they 
are  generally  well  off,  and  many  of  them  rich.  They  are  hated 
beyond  measure  by  the  Greeks,  who  take  every  opportunity  of 
insulting  and  ill-treating  them  ;  and  were  it  not  for  the  protection 
of  the  British  arms,  their  situation  would  be  insecure  and  wretched 
in  the  extreme. 

Twenty  years  ago,  a  Jew  dared  not  venture  to  show  his  face  in 
the  street  during  Passion-week.  Detachments  of  troops  at  that 
season  of  the  year,  were  stationed  at  their  synagogues  to  protect 
them  from  insult  and  violence  ;  but  a  great  change  has  taken  place 
since  then,  and  they  may  now  walk  about  the  streets  even  on  Good 
Friday  with  impunity. 

The  chief  rabbi  is  a  native  of  Gibraltar,  and  calls  himself  an 
Englishman.  His  name  is  Bibas.  He  is  a  genuine  Pharisee  of 
the  old  school,  rigidly  observing  the  Jewish  law.  Some  time  since 
he  prohibited  his  people  from  carrying  an  umbrella  on  the  Sab¬ 
bath,  as  a  violation  of  the  fourth  commandment.  The  Jews  here 
are  generally  very  strict  in  their  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  which 
they  will  not  violate  for  any  temporal  consideration,  but  they  re¬ 
volted  against  the  prohibition  to  carry  an  umbrella  on  that  day 
In  reply  to  the  inquiry  whether  there  are  any  Christians  at  Corfu 
who  care  for  the  souls  of  the  Jews,  I  can  only  say  that  the  Chris¬ 
tians  here,  whether  Greeks,  Roman  Catholics,  or  Protestants,  care 
little,  generally  speaking,  for  their  own  souls,  and  therefore  have 
little  thought  for  the  souls  of  the  Jews. 


No.  V. 

JEWS  OF  DAMASCUS. 

Communicated  by  Erasmus  S.  Calman,  from  personal  observations  a  few 

years  ago 

The  Jews  of  Damascus  are,  like  their  brethren  at  Bagdad,  the 
descendants  of  the  first  and  second  captivity  ;  their  descent  may, 
many  suppose,  be  traced  as  far  back  as  the  reign  of  King  David. 


appendix. 


52  7 


The  Jews  at  Damascus  at  present  point  out  a  cave,  or  grotto 
fLbout  three  miles  fiom  the  town,  as  having*  once  formed  the  tern 
porary  abode  of  the  prophet  Elijah,  when  he  was  sent  to  anoint 
Hazael  to  be  king  over  Syria.  The  identity  of  this  place,  they 
say,  has  been  handed  down  to  them  by  an  unbroken  chain  of  wit¬ 
nesses,  from  the  prophet  to  the  present  generation ;  and  here  their 
ancestors  visited  him,  and  brought  to  him  the  necessaries  of  life 
I  he  grotto  is  now  metamorphosed  into  a  kind  of  underground 
synagogue,  and  is  resorted  to  on  the  last  day  of  every  month 
which  they  spend  in  prayer  and  supplication.  It  is  also  a  refuge’ 
in  the  time  of  danger.  The  number  of  Jews  here  in  the  time  of 
the  apostles  must  have  been  very  great,  but  many  of  them  were 
cut  off  during  the  wars  of  the  Jews  with  the  Romans,  from  which 
calamity  they  never  recovered— and  their  number  now  does  not 
exceed  5000  individuals. 

Their  secular  occupation  is  much  the  same  as  that  of  their  breth- 
n^u  at  Bagdad— banking  and  traffic ;  but  on  a  much  smaller  scale. 

.av®  ,,  e  lnfluence,  and  so  have  escaped  much  of  the  envy 
of  their  fellow  townsmen.  They  live  with  more  harmony  and 
peace  with  the  rest  of  the  people  than  in  any  place  in  the  East 
Their  prejudice  to  Christianity  is  on  that  account  also  much  less 
than  amongst  the  Jews  elsewhere.  They  converse  freely  with  the 
missionary,  and  interchange  visits ;  they  willingly  receive  Christian 
books  and  tracts,  and  are  very  communicative.  The  fact  of  the 
Jewish  quarter  being  at  a  distance  from  that  of  the  Christians,  cuts 
off  any  kind  of  intercourse  except  that  of  business,  and  this  deprives 
them  of  every  opportunity  of  giving  vent  to  their  ill-humour,  which 
they  might  otherwise  have  done,  and  likewise  lessens  their  dislike 
to  Christianity.  The  Pasha  of  Egypt,  since  he  has  taken  pos- 
session  of  Syria,  has  wrested  all  the  secular  authority  from  the 
hands  of  the  rabbis,  which  is  another  reason  for  the  liberal  opinions 
of  the  Jews  at  Damascus.  I  would  thus  conclude,  that  Damascus 
as  a  missionary  station,  is  of  the  utmost  importance,  not  only  as  it 
regards  the  direct  preaching  to  the  Jews,  but  also  as  it  concerns 
the  distribution  of  the  word  of  God.  Caravans  come  and  go  regu 
larly  from  Damascus  to  Bagdad,  Mosul,  Aleppo,  and  other  large 
towns,  several  times  in  the  year,  where  the  Jews  purchase  every 
copy  of  the  Scriptures  they  can  obtain  from  the  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society’s  Agent,  and  send  them  to  the  above-men¬ 
tioned  places,  from  which  again  they  are  sent  to  Persia  and  Cur- 
distan  ;  and  this  is  the  only  channel  I  am  aware  of,  by  which  the 
word  of  God  can  reach  the  Jews  in  these  distant  regions.  The 
Society’s  edition  of  the  Bible  is  almost  the  only  one  which  is  used 
in  their  families  and  the  schools. 

Schools  for  Jewish  children  may  likewise  be  easily  established 
there,  where  the  Hebrew,  Arabic,  and  English  should  be  taught. 
The  latter  language  grows  daily  in  importance  since  the  trade 
With  England  increased.  At  Beyrout,  where  the  number  of  Jews 
is  comparatively  small,  not  amounting  to  more  than  100  indivi- 


528 


APPENDIX. 


duals,  several  families  of  Jews  send  their  children  to  the  American 
school  intended  for  the  native  Christians  there,  and  parents  make 
no  objection  to  their  being  instructed  in  the  New  Testament. 


It  is  interesting  to  read  the  above  observations,  written  before 
the  sad  persecutions  of  these  Jews  had  somewhat  changed  their 
feelings  and  situation.  Perhaps,  however,  even  after  all  they  have 
suffered  at  the  hands  of  persecutors,  on  the  ground  of  an  alleged 
murder  of  a  Christian,  British  Christians  will  be  found  as  wel¬ 
come  to  the  Jews  of  Damascus  as  ever  before.  For  British  Chris¬ 
tians  have  come  forward  to  plead  their  cause  as  well  as  British 
Jews.  Among  others,  the  General  Assembly  of  our  Church  in 
1840,  unanimously  agreed  to  memorialize  Government  to  interpose 
in  behalf  of  the  persecuted  Jews  at  Rhodes  and  Damascus. 


No.  VI. 

JEWS  OF  BAGDAD. 

Communicated  by  Erasmus  S.  Calman,  who  personally  visited  them. 

The  Jews  of  Bagdad  believe  that  they  are  descendants  of  the 
Jews  who  were  carried  thither  in  the  first  captivity.  They  still 
have  over  them  one  called  “  Head  of  the  captivity  in  Babylon,” 
nV?j-:y>n,  an  office  which  arose  in  the  first  or  second  century. 
About  the  same  time  arose  the  office  of  froty  tyxn,  “  Head 
prince  of  the  Holy  Land.”  It  is  probable  that  these  titles  and 
offices  arose  from  a  desire  to  counteract  the  prophecy  of  Jacob, 
“  The  Sceptre  shall  not  depart  from  Judah,  nor  a  lawgiver  from 
between  his  feet  until  Shiloh  come.”  They  still  apply  the  first 
part  of  this  passage  to  their  “  Head  prince  of  the  captivity,”  and 
the  “  Lawgiver”  to  the  “  Head  prince  of  the  Holy  Land.”  The 
Romans  abolished  the  latter  office,  so  that  the  Jews  now  content 
themselves  with  referring  to  the  first.  They  further  say,  that  none 
were  made  princes  who  could  not  prove  their  descent  from  Judah. 
It  is  said  that  the  Jews  themselves  applied  to  the  Romans  to  put 
down  the  Head  prince  of  the  Holy  Land,  because  of  his  oppressions. 
At  present,  the  Prince  of  the  Captivity  is  not  a  descendant  of  Judah, 
but  is  raised  up  by  the  Porte  and  the  local  Government  at  Bagdad 
to  exact  from  his  brethren  the  money  levied  on  the  Jewish  nation 
there.  The  people  hate  the  office,  and  wish  it  was  abolished.  Mr. 
Caiman,  on  a  visit  to  him,  once  asked  him  “If  he  really  thought 
himself  the  sceptre  that  was  to  remain  in  Judah?”  He  gave  no 
answer;  he  would  not  say  that  he  believed  it,  but  only  smiled.  Yet 


APPENDIX.  529 

the  existence  of  this  office  is  an  argument  used  by  the  Jews  in  the 
East  against  Christianity. 

The  number  of  Jews  in  Bagdad  is  estimated  at  5000  or  6000. 
Nine  years  ago  there  were  five  times  as  many  ;  but  they  have  been 
destroyed  by  the  plague,  the  civil  war,  and  the  inundation,— all 
which  followed  each  other  in  rapid  succession.  The  population 
of  the  whole  town  was  at  that  time  reduced  from  120,000  to  not 
more  than  20,000. 

Their  moral  and  religious  state  is  bad  to  a  proverb.  They  are 
generally  as  bad  as  the  rest  of  the  population,  which  is  saying  the 
worst  of  them.  This  change  has  taken  place  since  these  judgments, 
as  if  they  thought  the  arrows  of  God  were  all  spent,  and  there  re¬ 
mained  no  fear  of  wrath,  or  as  if  they  had  grown  hardened  like 
Pharaoh.  This  applies  only  to  their  moral  state  ;  as  to  their  super¬ 
stitious  belief,  they  observe  the  traditions  of  the  Talmud  bigotedly. 
They  spare  neither  money  nor  trouble  in  performing  duties  enjoin- 
ed  by  the  Talmud.  They  count  the  performing  of  pilgrimages  one 
of  the  chief  works  of  merit;  and  accordingly  many  families  every 
year  accompany  the  caravans  that  go  to  Damascus  and  Aleppo,  in 
order  to  visit  the  graves  of  their  favourite  rabbis,  such  as  the  author 
of  the  Zohar ,  at  Marona.  The  poorer  classes,  who  have  not  the 
means  of  making  pilgrimages  to  the  Holy  Land,  go  on  pilgrimages 
to  the  innumerable  graves  of  the  writers  of  the  Talmud,  in  the 
vicinity  of  ancient  Babylon.  Some  go  to  the  graves  of  the  pro¬ 
phets  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel,  who  are  supposed  to  be  buried  on  the 
frontiers  of  Persia,  making  vows  and  prayers  to  them. 

They  are  occupied  in  bartering  and  traffic,  the  commerce  of 
Bagdad  and  its  vicinity  being  entirely  in  their  hands.  They  have 
occasionally  stopped  trade  by  withdrawing  their  capital  from  the 
market,  when  the  Pasha  attempted  to  make  alterations  in  the  cur¬ 
rency  injurious  to  their  interests.  Few  have  any  manual  trade, 
except  writing  out  the  Pentateuch  on  parchment  scrolls,  for  which 
they  are  famous  in  all  the  East. 

They  are  bitterly  opposed  to  Christianity  and  to  missionaries. 
The  reasons  of  this  are — If  any  Jew  were  to  embrace  Christianity, 
the  Head  of  the  Captivity  has  power  to  punish  him ;  and  he  has 
done  this  occasionally  in  so  severe  a  way  that  the  criminal  has  died 
under  the  lash.  Another  reason  is,  that  Christians — Armenians 
especially — avenge  themselves  on  the  poor  Jews  for  wrongs  done 
them  by  the  Mahometans.  The  peculiar  hatred  which  the  Jews 
bear  to  the  Armenians  may  arise  from  a  charge  often  brought 
against  them,  namely,  that  Haman  was  an  Armenian,  and  that  the 
Armenians  are  the  Amalekites  of  the  Bible.  When  Mr.  Caiman 
visited  Bagdad  with  Mr.  Groves  in  1832,  to  try  to  open  a  school 
among  the  Jews,  the  attempt  completely  failed,  chiefly  through  the 
fear  they  have  of  the  Prince  of  the  Captivity. 

The  Cabbala  is  more  a  matter  of  study  than  the  Talmud,  both 
here  and  in  the  East  generally.  Poland ,  instead  of  Babylon,  may 
be  said  to  have  become  the  seat  of  the  Talmud.  The  reason  as- 


530 


APPENDIX. 


signed  for  the  comparative  neglect  of  the  Talmud,  and  preference 
of  the  Cabbala,  in  a  country  where  the  writers  of  Talmudism  once 
flourished,  is,  that  more  than  half  the  Koran  was  taken  from  the 
Talmud,  so  that  to  them  it  is  associated  with  Mahometanism. 

About  two  days  from  Bagdad  is  a  place  called  Heet  or  Hith  on 
the  banks  of  the  Euphrates,  in  the  desert  between  Bagdad  and  Da¬ 
mascus.  Here  about  twenty  families  of  Karaite  Jews  reside.  Mr. 
Caiman  visited  them  :  they  prosecute  the  business  of  silversmiths, 
making  trinkets  and  ornaments  for  the  people  of  the  town,  and  for 
the  Arabs  of  the  desert.  Finding  it  difficult,  after  all,  to  subsist  by 
their  industry  in  that  small  town,  they  tried  to  settle  in  Bagdad  or 
its  vicinity  ;  but  met  with  such  determined  opposition  from  the  rab¬ 
binical  Jews,  that  they  were  compelled  to  remain  in  this  spot,  where 
they  have  been  for  centuries.  But  the  days  are  coming  when  “  the 
sound  of  the  great  trumpet”  shall  reach  the  ears  of  those  that  are 
“  ready  to  perish  in  the  land  of  Assyria.”*  When  Mr.  Caiman 
visited  their  Hacharn ,  he  was  dressed  in  a  long,  coarse  shirt,  with 
a  rope  about  his  loins.  A  small  square  chamber  served  him  both 
as  a  study  and  a  synagogue.  He  had  a  few  manuscripts,  which  he 
would  not  part  with  for  any  price  in  the  world.  He  was  delighted 
when  Mr.  C.  told  him  that  he  was  as  much  opposed  to  the  Talmud 
as  himself ;  and  then  listened  to  him  when  he  showed  in  the  Old 
Testament  the  declarations  of  the  prophets  regarding  a  suffering 
Saviour.  The  Hacham's  main  objection  to  Christianity  was  Isaiah 
lxv.  4,  “  a  people  that  eat  swine’s  flesh.”f  Mr.  Caiman  showed 
him  that  this  was  not  a  reference  to  Christians,  for  the  people 
spoken  of  “  sacrifice  in  gardens,”  &c.  The  Karaites  seem  to  be 
preserved  as  living  witnesses  against  the  Talmud ,  in  the  very  seat 
of  its  former  dominion  and  its  birthplace. 


No.  VII. 

STRIKING  SIMILARITY  IN  THE  MAIN  FEATURES  OF  JUDAISM  AND  POPERY, 
PROVING  THAT  THEY  HAVE  ONE  AUTHOR. 

The  object  of  both  the  systems  of  Judaism  and  Popery,  is  to 
lead  men  to  go  about  to  establish  their  own  righteousness,  and  thus 
prevail  upon  them  to  live  and  die  without  submitting  to  the  right¬ 
eousness  of  God.  In  the  system  of  Judaism,  the  working  of  Satan 
is  seen  in  excluding  Christ,  and  offering  the  sinner  a  substitute  for 
him :  in  Popery,  his  work  is  seen  in  including  Christ,  yet  still  pre¬ 
senting  a  substitute  for  him.  On  the  forehead  of  both  is  written — 
Mystery  of  Iniquity. 


*  laa.  xxvii.  13. 


t  Isa.  lxv.  i. 


APPENDIX. 


531 


Popery  says : 

The  Bible  is  not  the  only  rule  of 
farth.  The  Church  is  to  determine 
what  is  to  be  believed. 

2 

The  traditions  of  the  Fathers  and 
decrees  of  General  Councils,  are  to  be 
received  as  authoritative  and  binding. 

3 

The  Pope,  or  at  least  the  Pope  along 
with  a  General  Council,  is  infallible. 

4 

The  laity  ought  to  be  guided  by  the 
priests,  and  have  no  right  of  private 
judgment.  We  will  excommunicate 
them,  if  they  judge  differently  from  the 
interpretations  of  our  holy  mother, 
the  Church. 

5 

It  is  not  safe  to  give  the  people  at 
large  the  plain  text  of  Scripture.  And 
the  prayers  must  be  read  in  Latin,  not 
in  the  vernacular  tongue. 

6 

There  is  great  merit  in  giving  alms, 
and  in  prayers,  pilgrimages,  and  other 
good  works. 

7 

There  is  a  purgatory.  The  best  of 
men  must  be  purged  after  death,  in¬ 
stead  of  at  once  entering  into  heaven. 

8 

No  man  can  be  sure  of  salvation  till 
the  very  hour  of  death.  Therefore  he 
must  try  to  make  his  vague  hope  some¬ 
what  surer  by  every  means  which  the 
priests  and  the  Church  choose  to  point 
out. 

9 

It  is  right  to  pay  the  priests  for  the 
Confessional,  saying  Mass,  &,c. 

10 

Prayer  for  the  dead  is  useful  to  free 
the  soul  from  purgatory.  Therefore, 
after  you  die,  we  will  pray  for  you, 
if  you  pay  us  for  doing  so. 


11 

Prayers  to  dead  saints  and  to  the 
Virgin  Mary,  are  of  great  benefit  in 
time  of  trouble. 


Judaism  say3 ; 

The  Talmud  and  the  Cabbala  are  as 
good  authorities  as  the  Bible.  Nay,  the 
Talmud  is  wine,  but  the  Scriptures, 
taken  by  themselves,  are  only  water. 

2 

All  the  traditions  of  the  rabbis  are  to 
be  implicitly  believed  and  followed. 

3 

The  rabbis  and  the  authors  of  the 
Talmud  cannot  err. 

4 

It  is  the  commentators,  Jarchi,  &c 
that  are  to  settlethe  meaning  of  Scrip¬ 
ture,  and  not  private  judgment.  We 
will  fulminate  our  Herem  against  you 
if  you  interpret  passages  differently 
from  us. 

5 

The  plain  grammatical  sense  of 
Scripture  is  to  be  taught  to  few.  And 
we  must  never  use  any  but  Hebrew 
prayers,  however  few  may  understand 
them. 

6 

“  Alms  deliver  from  death.”  There 
is  merit  to  be  stored  up  by  prayers, 
pilgrimages,  feasts  and  fasts.  “  Touch 
not,  taste  not,  handle  not.” 

7 

The  Jew  after  death,  must  undergo 
a  trial  of  fire,  and  roll  under  the  earth 
to  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat. 

8 

No  Jew  in  this  life  can  come  to  a 
settled  hope  of  acceptance ;  wherefore, 
he  must  use  every  means  that  the  rab¬ 
bis  choose  to  appoint  to  make  his 
hope  surer. 

9 

The  rabbis  require  a  present  for 
giving  you  advice,  praying  for  your 
dead  friends,  &c. 

10 

"  May  God  remember  the  soul  of  my 
honoured  father  A.  B.,  who  is  gone  to 
his  repose;  for  that  I  now  solemnly 
vow  charity  for  his  sake.  In  reward 
of  this  may  his  soul  be  bound  up  in 
the  bundle  of  life.”  This  is  a  prayer 
at  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles. 

11 

Every  Jew  ought  to  pray  over  the 
graves  of  the  saints,  asking  them  to 
intercede  with  God  for  him.  It  is 
right  also  to  plead  the  merit  and  ser¬ 
vices  of  our  rabbis,  and  our  fathers 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  lacob 


532 


APPENDIX 


Popery  says : 

12 

Worship  may  be  paid  to  images  and 
pictures;  yet  not  exactly  to  them,  but 
only  to  what  they  represent. 

13 

Pilgrimages  to  holy  wells,  to  holy 
places,  and  above  all  to  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  are  meritorious 


14 

Kiss  the  crucifix,  and  exalt  it  every¬ 
where,  yet  pretend  that  you  do  not 
adore  it,  but  him  who  died  on  it. 

15 

Read  much  of  the  Gospels,  little  of 
the  Epistles,  and  do  not  encourage 
private  reading  of  Scripture.  If  any 
read  much  of  the  Bible  in  private,  he 
is  a  heretic ;  but  if  he  read  much  of  the 
Fathers ,  he  is  a  good  son  of  the  Church. 

16 

Keep  the  Sabbaths  after  forenoon 
service  is  over,  by  being  gay  and  mer¬ 
ry,  and  going  to  the  theatres,  &c. 


17 

Christ  will  receive  those  who  make 
themselves  holy  before  they  come,  that 
is,  who  recommend  themselves  to  him 
by  their  works,  and  their  fidelity  to 
the  Church. 

18 

It  is  lawful  to  put  a  baptized  man, 
woman,  or  child,  to  death,  if  they  re¬ 
nounce  the  true  Church. 

19 

There  is  no  salvation  out  of  the 
Church  of  Rome. 


Judaism  says: 

12 

On  the  evening  of  the  Day  of  Atone 
ment,  Jews  must  pray  to  the  Shecinah 
in  the  moon,  yet  not  as  if  to  the  moon 

13 

Pilgrimages  to  the  tombs  of  rabbis 
such  as  Marona,  and  to  the  Holy  Land 
and  offering  prayer  at  the  stones  of 
the  Temple  wall,  are  acts  of  high 
merit. 

14 

Adore  the  Torah— Kiss  it,  and  yet 
not  as  if  it  were  any  thing  itself,  but 
on  pretence  of  adoring  the  Giver  of  it. 

15 

Read  much  of  the  Law,  and  the  His¬ 
tories,  and  the  Psalms,  little  of  the 
Prophets.  If  any  read  much  of  the 
Scripture,  he  is  an  Epicurus,  that  is, 
a  heretic  or  infidel ;  but  if  he  study 
much  of  the  Talmud,  this  is  meri¬ 
torious. 

16 

Keep  the  Sabbaths,  when  not  occu 
pied  in  synagogue  worship,  by  eating 
and  drinking  more  than  usual  that 
day,  taking  three  meals,  and  by  walk¬ 
ing  about  in  gaiety,  and  calling  on 
each  other. 

17 

It  is  not  with  pardon  that  Messiah 
has  to  do.  He  is  to  reward  his  faith¬ 
ful  people,  who  are  pardoned  already 
by  their  alms,  fasts,  and  prayers. 

18 

It  is  right  to  persecute,  even  to  death, 
any  Jew  who  becomes  a  Christian. 

19 

“  Heretics  and  Epicureans  go  down 
to  hell  and  are  judged  for  ever.” 


Such  is  a  specimen  of  the  coincidence  between  the  doctrines  of 
Judaism  and  those  of  Popery,  and  the  instances  could  easily  be 
multiplied,  proving  to  a  demonstration  that  both  systems  proceed 
from  the  Father  of  lies,  the  great  adversary  of  Christ,  and  of  the 
souls  of  men.  Of  the  great  mass  of  the  deluded  people  under  both 
systems,  it  may  truly  be  said,  “  God  has  sent  them  strong  delusion 
that  they  should  believe  a  lie,”  while  their  priests  and  rulers  sub¬ 
ject  themselves  to  that  sentence  from  the  lips  of  Christ — “  Wo  unto 
you,  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites  !  for  ye  shut  up  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  against  men  ;  for  ye  neither  go  in  yourselves,  neither 
suffer  ye  them  that  are  entering  to  go  in.” 


533 


PASSAGES  OF  SCRIPTURE  REFERRED  TO  OR 

ILLUSTRATED. 


Genesis. 

Exodus. 

Chap. 

Verse. 

Page. 

Chap. 

Verse. 

Page. 

iii. 

18, 

119 

i. 

14, 

373 

X. 

3, 

167 

ii. 

15, 

80 

xii. 

1. 

3 

iii. 

5, 

68,  314 

6, 

213 

vii. 

18, 

58 

205 

xiv. 

15, 

438 

'  xiii. 

3, 

205 

XV. 

20, 

61 

8, 

18, 

44 

184 

23, 

27, 

85 

77 

XV. 

44,  179 

xvii. 

6, 

85 

18, 

90 

xix. 

4, 

442 

xvi. 

7, 

80,  84 

xxii. 

31, 

452 

12,  77,274,303 

xxiii. 

19, 

471 

xvii. 

25, 

59 

XXV. 

5,  10, 

79 

xviii. 

6, 

81 

xxix. 

22, 

105 

8, 

94,  184 

xix. 

1, 

91 

Leviticus. 

28, 

182 

XX. 

1, 

94 

i. 

10,  14, 

270 

xxi. 

15, 

80 

iii. 

9, 

105 

xxii. 

2,  9, 

145 

xi. 

40, 

230 

xxiv. 

11, 

80 

xiii. 

6,  13, 

403 

xxvi. 

12, 18, 

94 

xvi. 

407 

xxviii. 

13,12, 

205 

xix. 

19, 

457 

13, 

94 

xxiii. 

40, 

421 

xxix. 

2, 

80 

xxvi. 

26, 

476 

xxxiii. 

4, 

80 

34, 

226 

XXXV. 

16-20, 

175 

36, 

444 

xxxvii. 

25,  28, 

94 

39, 

324 

xli. 

42, 

256 

42, 

322 

xlii. 

3, 

84 

27, 

55,  253 

Numbers. 

xlvi. 

1. 

94 

4, 

84 

vi. 

23, 

447 

29, 

72 

xi. 

5, 

52,  79 

xlviii. 

22, 

213 

xiii. 

22, 

72 

xlix. 

13, 

286 

23, 

107 

20, 

232,  265 

33, 

113 

22, 

213,217 

XV. 

38, 

360,  457 

L 

31, 

181 

39, 

457 

13, 

181 

xxi. 

27,  28, 

414 

47 


534 


INDEX  OF  SCRIPTURE  REFERENCES. 


Numbers — continued. 


Chap. 

Verse. 

Page. 

xxii. 

1, 

195 

xxiii. 

10, 

144 

xxiv. 

9, 

61 

XXV. 

1, 

195 

xxxiii. 

22, 

81 

xxxiv. 

8, 

241 

Deuteronomy. 

ii. 

23, 

94 

iii. 

9, 

229 

25, 

83,  241 

vi. 

5, 

430 

8,  9, 

456 

viii. 

7, 

116 

9, 

98 

xi. 

10, 

72 

30, 

213 

xvii. 

11,  12, 

395 

xxi. 

10,  23, 

361 

xxii. 

8, 

193 

12, 

457 

xxiv. 

6, 

98 

XXV. 

4, 

116 

13, 

98 

xxvii. 

12, 

211 

xxviii. 

23, 

117 

29, 

413 

33, 

330 

35, 

498 

37, 

384,  470 

62, 

118 

65, 

273,  317 

66, 

273 

xxxiii. 

13,  14, 

217 

15, 

209 

23, 

285  ' 

24,  25, 

265  | 

xxxiv. 

1, 

Joshua. 

144 

ii. 

1, 

270 

6, 

115,  274 

vii. 

2, 

204 

ix. 

201 

17, 

200,  204 

X. 

2, 

201 

12, 

202 

16, 

204 

J  oshua — continued. 


Chap. 

Verse. 

Page 

xii. 

20,  22, 

,  281 

XV. 

3, 

100 

8, 

150 

9, 

175 

16, 

178 

19, 

101 

25, 

115 

43, 

116 

xvi. 

8, 

223 

xvii. 

9, 

223 

11,  12, 

228 

16, 

226 

xviii. 

12, 

204 

16, 

153 

25, 

205 

28, 

175,  266 

xix. 

1-9, 

94 

8, 

99 

12, 

304 

27, 

267,310 

28, 

266 

29, 

238,  260 

34, 

285 

35, 

295 

38, 

288 

41, 

112 

xxi. 

28, 

304 

xxiv. 

30, 

207 

32, 

213 

33, 

206 

Judges. 

i. 

8, 

395 

31, 

238 

ii. 

13, 

410 

iv. 

5, 

94, 204 

c, 

302 

10,  11, 

271 

14, 

301 

15, 

226 

V. 

6, 

225,  268 

10, 

53 

11, 

268 

19, 

226 

21, 

235 

25, 

110 

26, 

62 

ix. 

7, 

210,  513 

INDEX  OF  SCRIPTURE  REFERENCES. 


535 


J  udges — continued. 


Chap. 

Verse. 

Page. 

ix. 

20, 

210 

21, 

203 

X. 

6, 

410 

xiii. 

2, 

114 

25, 

112,  114 

xiv. 

5, 

114 

XV. 

5, 

203 

xvi. 

17, 

103 

3, 

102 

xxi. 

19, 

208 

21, 

Ruth. 

208 

i. 

22, 

177 

ii. 

14, 

110 

iii. 

2-7, 

301 

15, 

113 

iv. 

1,  11 

1  Samuel. 

91 

i. 

1, 

199 

V. 

3, 

114 

vi. 

12, 

115 

vii. 

1,  2 

122 

5, 

144 

11, 

114 

viii. 

4, 

199 

ix. 

199 

3, 

89  J 

9, 

462  : 

26, 

295! 

x.  . 

199 

. 

2, 

175,  199 

14,  26, 

199 

xiii. 

5, 

204 

xiv. 

2, 

94 

4, 

204 

xvii. 

2, 

124 

17, 

110 

xviii. 

6,  7, 

61 

xix. 

22, 

200 

XXV. 

1, 

199 

2, 

182 

xxvii. 

9, 

96 

xxviii 

300 

xxix. 

1, 

303 

XXX. 

10,15,16,  100 

Chap. 

2  Samuel 
Verse. 

Page. 

i. 

21, 

276 

24, 

232 

ii. 

12, 

202 

iii. 

26, 

178 

iv. 

2, 

204 

12, 

182 

V. 

7, 

190 

17-25, 

136 

xii. 

13, 

26 

xvii. 

17, 

153 

18, 

90 

19, 

274 

xviii. 

18, 

157 

XX. 

8, 

202 

xxi. 

14, 

175,  199 

19, 

206 

xxiii. 

4, 

89 

xxiv. 

30, 

207 

7, 

260 

i. 

1  Kings. 

9, 

153 

38,  39, 

135 

41, 

153 

ii. 

5, 

202 

iii. 

5, 

202 

iv. 

9, 

107 

20, 

108 

33, 

182 

vii. 

41, 

272 

viii. 

143 

ix. 

3, 

191 

X. 

27, 

99 

29, 

84 

XV. 

27, 

224 

xvi. 

15, 

224 

xviii. 

13, 

233 

28, 

358 

42, 

234 

43,  230,  234 

44, 

226 

46, 

49 

xix. 

4, 

175 

18, 

307 

xxii. 

11, 

366 

536 


INDEX  OF  SCRIPTURE  REFERENCES 


2  Kings. 

PSALMS- 

— continued. 

Chap. 

Verse. 

Page. 

Chap. 

Verse. 

Page, 

i. 

8, 

76 

IV. 

7, 

9 

iii. 

11, 

68,  253 

xvii. 

5, 

96 

iv. 

29, 

110 

xix. 

2, 

89 

vi. 

24, 

222 

xxii. 

16, 

192 

vii. 

17, 

223 

xxiii. 

2, 

184 

ix. 

20, 

226 

3, 

96 

1  Chronicles. 

4, 

341 

xi. 

17, 

185 

XXV. 

22, 

513 

xxi. 

17, 

145 

XXXV. 

10, 

278 

xxxvii. 

35, 

421 

2  Chronicles. 

xlv. 

8, 

59 

iii. 

1, 

145 

xlvi. 

4, 

341 

xi. 

6, 

177 

xlvii. 

1,  61, 

147,  389 

xiv. 

9, 

115 

xlviii. 

1-3, 

129 

xviii. 

31, 

310 

12, 

133 

xxvi. 

10, 

236 

xlix. 

7, 

423,  463 

xxviii. 

18, 

117 

1. 

15, 

463 

xxix. 

36, 

1 

li. 

25 

xxxiii. 

6, 

133 

Iii. 

8, 

106 

XXXV 

23, 

226 

Iv. 

17, 

59 

Nehemiah. 

22, 

513 

i. 

2,  4, 

1 

lix. 

6, 

48 

iii. 

130 

14,  15, 

355 

15, 

154 

Ixviii. 

31, 

48 

viii. 

5, 

361 

lxix. 

12, 

91 

15, 

421 

lxxii. 

5, 

330 

17,  18, 

443 

lxxiv 

2, 

12 

xi. 

30, 

150 

lxxvi. 

1, 

94 

Ixxviii. 

12,  43, 

72 

Esther. 

104 

Ixxx. 

10, 

124 

i. 

6, 

Ixxxv. 

1,2, 

42 

vi. 

14, 

67 

lxxxviii. 

15, 

84 

Job. 

Ixxxix. 

12, 

276 

•  •  • 

in. 

13,  14, 

160 

46, 

31 

20,  21, 

350 

xcii. 

12, 

54 

V. 

4, 

91 

xcviii. 

8, 

61 

xvi. 

15, 

249 

cii. 

6, 

268,  3]  6 

xxiv. 

18, 

279 

civ. 

10,  12, 

120 

xxix. 

6, 

110 

25, 

39 

XXX. 

11, 

62 

cvii. 

34, 

82 

xxxi. 

27, 

70 

cx. 

25 

xxxix. 

6,  8, 

84 

cxix. 

18, 

413 

Psalms. 

cxxii. 

3, 

140 

i. 

3, 

93 

cxxiii. 

2, 

68,  174 

4, 

309 

cxxiv. 

7, 

313 

11. 

12, 

307 

cxxv. 

1, 

133 

INDEX  OF  SCRIPTURE  REFERENCES. 


537 


Psalms — continued.  Isaiah — continued. 


Chap. 

Verse. 

Page. 

Chap. 

Verse. 

Page. 

cxxv. 

2, 

125,  144 

i. 

15, 

237 

cxxvi. 

4, 10],  117, 218 

ii. 

4,  297,  299, 344 

cxxx. 

1, 

360 

iii. 

4, 

399,  439 

cxxxii. 

3, 

66 

12, 

55 

cxxxiii. 

1, 

148 

<  89.183.254 

cxl. 

4, 

311 

10,  < 

392,  452 

cxliv. 

14, 

373 

21/ 

274 

Ecclesiastes. 

r 

) 

24, 

392 

ii. 

5,  6, 

177 

iv. 

6, 

85 

iv. 

2, 

450 

V. 

1, 

11 

xii. 

4, 

110 

i 

2, 

178 

5, 

141 

6, 

297 

6, 

341 

12, 

412 

Song  of  Solomon. 

vi. 

11,  12 

,  109 

i. 

5, 

104 

vii. 

3,  14 

,  135 

7, 

109,208 

23,  24 

119 

ii. 

7, 

139 

viii. 

6, 

155 

8, 

296 

8, 

252 

9, 

67,  296 

19,20, 

448,  450 

13, 

178 

ix. 

1,2, 

285 

15, 

203 

3, 

106 

iii. 

10, 

350 

6, 

25,  513 

iv. 

1, 

82 

xi. 

1-5, 

380 

4, 

190 

8, 

232 

8, 

230 

xii. 

3, 

443 

12, 

177 

xiv. 

18, 

160 

15, 

154,241 

xvii. 

5, 

136, 150 

V. 

4, 

112 

13, 

297 

15, 

241, 320 

xix. 

5,  6, 

52 

vii. 

5, 

236 

7, 

52,  77 

11,12, 

123 

10, 

72 

viii. 

11, 

123 

11-13, 

74 

Proverbs. 

21,  22, 

25,  48 

vi. 

6-11, 

95 

xxii. 

9, 

134 

viii. 

2, 

96  1 

15,  16, 

160 

ix. 

14,  15, 

318 

22, 

112,  249 

xi. 

1, 

274 

25, 

62 

xvi. 

11, 

98,  274 

xxiii. 

4, 

256 

xvii. 

19, 

186 

7-11, 

18,  263 

XX. 

27, 

407 

xxiv. 

4,  6, 

101,  164 

xxi. 

1, 

93 

7,  S,  11, 

118 

XXV. 

25, 

90 

23, 

173 

Isaiah. 

XXV. 

4, 

97 

L 

3, 

264 

5, 

76,  282 

4,  5, 

197 

xxvii. 

13, 

454, 530 

7, 

118,264 

xxv  iii, 

1, 

222 

8,  63, 

188,  228 

21 

136,  202 

47 * 


538 


INDEX  OF  SCRIPTURE  REFERENCES. 


Isaiah — continued. 


Chap. 

Verse. 

Page. 

xxviii. 

27, 

64, 134,  308 

28, 

64 

XXX. 

24, 

77,  153 

S  81,  85 

XXX11. 

)  97,  419 

11, 

423,  442 

12, 

119, 298 

13, 

117,  227 

15, 

117,119 

xxxiii. 

20, 

62 

xxxiv. 

11, 

54 

XXXV. 

2, 

235,  241 

7, 

54 

10, 

448 

xxxvi. 

2,  13, 

3,135 

xl. 

16, 

252 

xli. 

19, 

79 

xliii. 

6, 

5  167,  359 
}  515 

xliv 

5, 

92,  198 

22, 

48, 182 

xlv. 

4, 

530 

xlix. 

16, 

92, 198 

22, 

48, 182 

1. 

5, 

161 

lili. 

414,430,  437 

liv. 

2, 

62 

7, 

21,360 

lv. 

1, 

452 

12, 

147 

Ivii. 

5, 

228 

Iviii. 

3,4, 

279 

12, 

130 

13, 

7 

lx. 

2,  3, 

345 

6,  7, 

79 

18, 

314 

Ixii, 

5, 

418 

6,  7, 

1 

10, 

143 

Ixv. 

4, 

530 

5, 

436 

lxvi. 

12, 

49 

Jeremiah. 

ii. 

8, 

439 

18, 

56 

31, 

517 

32, 

416 

Jeremiah — continued. 


Chap. 

Verse, 

Page. 

iii. 

15, 

439 

iv. 

17, 

104 

vi. 

1, 

150, 185 

13-15, 

387 

vii. 

12, 

207 

18, 

410 

viii. 

7, 

374 

ix. 

U, 

130 

17, 

465 

xi. 

13, 

468 

16, 

106 

XV. 

5, 

366 

xvii. 

6, 

78,  82 

19, 

91 

xviii. 

14, 

241 

xix. 

6, 

133 

xxii. 

6, 

239 

20, 

144 

xxiii. 

21, 

462 

XXV. 

10, 

110 

22, 

256 

xxvi. 

18, 

133 

21, 

47 

XXX. 

18, 

130 

xxxi. 

5, 

222 

21, 

47,  55 

22, 

417 

33, 

5 

xxxiii. 

11, 

56 

xxxviii. 

7, 

91 

xxxix. 

3, 

91 

xli. 

8, 

112 

xliii. 

7, 

80 

xlvi. 

14, 

80 

18, 

238,  298 

xlvii. 

5, 

102, 103 

6.  7, 

95 

xlviii. 

45,  46, 

414 

1. 

7, 

470 

38, 

433 

li. 

35, 

441 

47, 

449 

49, 

Lamentations. 

448 

i. 

6, 

194,  481 

12, 

191 

ii* 

1, 

197 

1,5, 

129 

INDEX 

OF  SCRIPTURE  REFERENCES. 

539 

Lamentations — continued. 

Daniel. 

Chap. 

Verse. 

Page 

Chap. 

Verse. 

Page. 

347 

ii. 

6, 

145,  44c 

»  xi. 

2, 

9, 

13C 

i  xii. 

3, 

179 

15, 

126 

i 

9, 

237 

19, 

499 

Hosea. 

iv. 

V. 

2, 

3, 

4,  5, 
16, 

367 

292 

437 

193 

ii. 

7, 

9, 
11, 
12,  15, 

415 

10^ 

128 

107 

Ezekiel. 

iii. 

iv. 

4, 

1,  2, 

405,  437 
475 

iv. 

14, 15, 

70 

V. 

1, 

298 

vii. 

24, 

145 

8,  9, 

198 

ix. 

2, 

92 

X. 

4, 

117 

4, 

147 

6, 

204 

xi. 

16, 

462 

8, 

204, 206 

xiii. 

4, 

10, 

84 

76 

11, 

14, 

153 

286 

11, 

89 

xi. 

4, 

403 

xvi. 

46, 

195 

8, 

195 

49,  50, 

8 

xiii. 

2, 

307 

xxiii. 

40, 

183 

xiv. 

1, 

415 

XXV. 

1 6, 

103 

2, 

430 

17, 

102 

6, 

106 

xxvi. 

4, 

262 

7, 

232 

21, 

261,  262 

J  OEL, 

xxvii. 

34,  36, 

262 

i. 

12, 

100, 108 

xxviii. 

19, 

262 

20, 

117 

22, 

256 

ii. 

16, 

407 

xxix. 

12-16, 

373 

iii. 

10, 

344 

15, 

61 

12  14,  16, 

152 

xxx. 

14, 

75 

18, 

117, 123 

18, 

80 

Amos. 

23-26, 

373 

i. 

1, 

187 

xxxii. 

17, 

160 

2, 

236 

xxxiii. 

30, 

329,  331 

7, 

103 

xxxiv. 

2,  3, 

148 

9,  10, 

261 

14, 

322 

iii. 

12, 

66 

29, 

109 

V. 

5, 

206 

xxxvi. 

8, 

123 

15, 

91 

23, 

264 

vi. 

1, 

222 

26, 

238 

ix. 

3, 

233,  235 

32, 

393 

9, 

181 

xxxvii. 

9, 

30 

13, 

108 

11, 

427,  446 

15, 

25 

xxxviii. 

20, 

124 

Obadiail 

xlvi. 

16, 

395 

19, 

144 

xlvii. 

16, 

241 

20, 

167 

540 


INDEX  OP  SCRIPTURE  REFERENCES, 


Micaii. 


Chap. 

Verse. 

Page. 

« 

6  i 

5  130,  219 

1. 

o> 

\  220 

•  •  • 
ill. 

12,  ] 

S  129, 130 
►  133, 145 

iv. 

3, 

299 

4, 

105 

V. 

2, 

27, 175 

vii. 

2-6, 

148 

H  1 

i  236,  322 
*  341 

19, 

390 

Habakkuk. 

•  • 
ii. 

11, 

283 

Zephaniah. 

ii. 

4, 

102 

6  i 

100,  103 

’  ) 

112 

7, 

104,  111 

iii. 

13, 

459 

Zechariah. 

i. 

14,  15, 

1 

ii. 

2, 

127,  135 

4,  5, 

493 

10,  108,  479 

13,  505 

5,  103,111 

13,  410 

4,  62,  66 

10,  322 

11,  226 

1,149,264,291 
4,  159,  189 

14,  396 

16,  443 

20,  6, 106 


Matthew. 


ii. 

10, 

174 

14, 

84 

15, 

47 

18, 

200 

iii. 

4, 

76 

12, 

309 

iv 

13, 

285. 

Matthew — continued. 


Chap. 

Verse. 

Page. 

iv. 

15,  i 6, 

43,  323 

18, 

63,  294 

vi. 

19, 

76 

vii. 

13, 

96 

viii. 

24, 

294 

ix. 

1, 

287 

20, 

457 

23, 

141 

X. 

42,  41 

,87,  104 

xi. 

17, 

465 

20, 

287 

22, 

256 

23,  24, 

287 

xii. 

40, 

342 

xiii. 

1,2, 

289 

31, 

138 

44, 

387 

XV. 

9, 

283 

21-28 

258 

39, 

288 

xvi. 

18, 

91 

xix. 

3, 

247 

xxi. 

5, 

53 

18,19, 

237 

33, 

178 

xxiii. 

5, 

457 

13, 

474 

14, 

314 

27, 

82 

29, 

340,456 

37, 

136 

38, 

277 

xxiv. 

17, 

297 

XXV. 

1, 

57 

32, 

82 

xxvii. 

7,  8, 

151 

29, 

190 

50,  51, 

Mark. 

145 

i. 

19, 

289 

32,  35,37,  288 

•  • 
ii. 

4, 

89 

iii. 

7, 

289 

vi. 

45,  53, 

287 

vii. 

3, 

417 

9, 

467 

iii. 

viii. 

ix. 

x. 

xii. 

xiii. 

xiv. 


INDEX  OF  SCRIPTURE  REFERENCES. 


541 


Mark — continued. 


Chap. 

Verse. 

Page 

vii. 

24-30, 

258 

viii. 

13,  22,  27, 

287 

xi. 

1,  2, 

196 

14,20,23, 

197 

xiii. 

15, 

147 

35, 

129 

xiv. 

15, 

137 

51, 

Luke. 

350 

• 

1. 

39, 

115 

ii. 

7, 

187 

7-12, 

385 

10,  175, 187 

24, 

270 

35, 

431 

44, 

203 

iv. 

16, 

168 

29, 

306 

vii. 

11, 

300 

14, 

320 

36-38, 

69 

ix. 

10, 

287 

52-56, 

209 

X. 

4, 

110 

xii. 

8, 

270 

27, 

139 

xiii. 

6, 

124 

xiv. 

17, 

67 

XV. 

22, 

256 

xvi. 

20, 

68 

xvii. 

13, 

214 

26,  30, 

7 

31, 

274 

xix. 

1-4, 

99 

41, 

157 

xxi. 

24, 

137 

xxiv. 

32, 

200 

50,51, 

John. 

159 

i. 

44, 

287 

48, 

108 

ii. 

6, 

453 

iii. 

29, 

57 

iv. 

11, 

212 

35, 

216 

John — continued. 


Chap. 

Verse. 

Page. 

iv. 

4, 

156 

V. 

8, 

62 

vi. 

3-14, 

297 

15,  16, 

277 

vii. 

37,  \ 

145,197 

’  i 

436 

ix. 

154 

X. 

4, 

174 

xi. 

1,  18, 

158 

xii. 

1-3, 

69 

xiii. 

10, 

51 

32, 

203 

xiv. 

19, 

159 

xviii. 

2, 

162 

n, 

161 

xix. 

20, 

140 

XX. 

5, 

160 

xxi. 

293 

12, 

342 

Acts. 

i. 

11, 

159 

19, 

151 

•  • 

n. 

29, 

132 

iii. 

44 

iv. 

36, 

324 

vii. 

16, 

181 

58, 

142 

•  •  • 

Vlll. 

8, 

223 

26, 

101 

58, 

142 

ix. 

35, 

122 

X. 

9, 

69,  223 

xvi. 

8,  9, 

347 

11, 

346 

14, 

337 

xviii. 

7,  193, 439 

24, 

47 

25, 

337 

xix. 

24-29, 

337 

XX. 

4, 

339 

7, 

347 

13,14, 

346 

15, 

326 

31, 

337 

xxi. 

1, 

325 

542 


INDEX  OF  SCRIFTURE  REFERENCES. 


Acts — continued. 


Chap. 

Verse. 

Page. 

xxii. 

5, 

264 

7,  238, 312 

8, 

229 

43 

xxvii. 

2, 

347 

7, 

44 

39, 

35 

xxviii. 

23, 

500 

30,  31, 

Romans. 

478 

v. 

8, 

1  Corinthians. 

162 

•  • 
Vll. 

28, 

419 

ix. 

10, 

116 

xi. 

26, 

2  Corinthians. 

189 

iv. 

6, 

137 

V 

1-4, 

Galatians. 

62 

ii. 

9, 

Ephesians. 

520 

•  •  • 
in. 

18,  19, 

337 

vi. 

12, 

CoLOSSIANS. 

488 

ii. 

1, 

338 

iv 

13, 15, 16, 

338 

2 

Thessalonians. 

ii. 

4,  23, 38 

2  Timothy. 

i. 

18,  328, 

337 

iv. 

13, 

347 

Titus. 


Chap. 

Verse. 

Page. 

iii. 

13, 

45 

Hebrews. 

xi. 

9, 

88 

37, 

153 

xiii. 

12, 

140 

1  Peter. 

iv. 

12, 

364 

2  Peter. 

i. 

r* 

CD 

r— ( 

301 

Jude. 

7, 

195 

Revelations. 

ii. 

7, 

337 

10, 

328,  343 

12, 

336 

iii. 

4,  10, 

12,5  336 

16, 

)  338 

vi. 

10, 

31 

vii. 

9, 

54 

16,17, 

88 

xi. 

8, 

7,  8, 

xiii. 

1, 

326 

XV. 

3,  4, 

146 

xvi. 

12, 

339 

16, 

301 

20, 

326 

xviii. 

7, 

17 

22, 

110 

xix. 

7,  8, 

417 

xxii. 

2, 

341 

543 


INDEX 

OF 

THE  CHIEF  PLACES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


Page 

Abarim,  hill  of  - 

- 

144 

Abbeville 

• 

6 

Abilene,  pass  of 

- 

310 

- town  and  valley  of  310 

Aboukir,  Bay  of 

55 

Abraham’s  Oak 

184 

Absalom’s  Monument 

146 

- Pillar 

157 

Abu-Dis,  or  Bethpage 

195 

Abugilbany 

83 

Abusat,  flock  of 

117 

Abydos  and  Sestos 

347 

Acacia  tree  in  Galatz 

373 

Aceldama 

151 

Achzib,  now  Zeeb 

238,  315 

Acre,  Ptolemais  238,  311,  315 

- bazaar 

311 

- convent  - 

312 

- synagogue 

314 

- Jews  in  - 

148,  314 

Adar  or  Adair,  village  of 

100 

Adramyttium 

- 

346 

Adriatic  Sea 

35,  38 

AEgean  Sea 

39 

AEgospotamos,  river 

348 

Ahmoud 

55 

Ai 

203 

Ain-Derwa 

178 

Ain-el-Tin 

286 

Ain-Muhil,  village  of 

305 

Ain-Teen 

318 

Ain-Yebrud 

206  - 

Ain-Zeitoun 

274  i 

Page 

Alexandria,  Governor’s  garden  51 
Allasio  - 
Alpes 

Altona,  Jews  of 
Akhisar,  or  Thyatira 
Am-el-Fehm 
Amsterdam,  Jews  of 
Anata  or  Anathoth 
Ancona,  Jews  of 

a  Jewess  of 


Andros  - 
Anti-melos 
Antioch  of  Pisidia 
Aphikumen  (Passover  cakes) 
Arab  customs 
—  dance  and  song 


oven 

quern 


16 
12,  16 
515,  516 
337 
227 
495 
130,  136 
20 
329 
42 
39 
339 
434 
104,  313 
61 
90 


A 

A 

A 

A 


1a 


aloun,  valley  of 
ah'Sher,  or  Philadelph 
benga 
exandria 

- “Jews  in 

- Jewish  synagogues 


46, 


201 

337 

16 

53 

50 

49 


71 

—  school  -  -  91 

Aragesh  Sueidan  -  114 

Arbela,  caves  of,  or  Bethabel  286 

>f  39, 42 

122 
14 

d  hill  of  159 
116 
114 

•  265,310 
109 

246,  278,  290 
Asia,  Seven  Churches  of  336 — 339 


coast  of 
Minor,  state  of 
Assos 
Assoum  - 

Athanasius,  church,  of 
Athens,  Jews  in 
Athlete,  ruins  of 
Atonement,  day  of 


325 
339 
346 
65 
51 
19 
228 
404,  408 


544 


INDEX. 


Austria,  system  of 
espionage  in 
Austrian  Poland 
Avims,  country  of 
Avignon 


Baal-perazim 
Baba  Cape,  or  Lectum 
Baden,  Jews  in  - 
Bagdad,  Jews  in 
Balkan  Hills 
Balteen 
Balut  tree 
Barbary  village  • 
Barley,  field  of,  on  Zion 

- mode  of  sowing 

- harvest 


winnowing 


Bashan,  hills  of 
Bathan  - 
Bath,  an  Eastern 
Baths,  Hot,  at  Tiberias 
Bavaria,  Jews  in 
Bazaars,  Eastern 
Beatitudes,  Mount  of 
Beaucaire 
Beauvais 
Bedouins 
Bedouin  Chief 


457,  458 

427 

94 

12,  13 

136 
346 
515 
529 
367 
63 
120 
111 
133 

95 
106 
104 

289,  300 
416 
51 
295 
515| 
97,  214,  357 
276,  297 
13 
6 

77,  78,  303 
71 


Besor,  the  brook,  or  Wady  |  ^ 


Saiga 
Bet-afta 
Bet-car 
Bet-daras 
Beteen 
Bet-emireen 
Bet-hagar 
Bet-hanina 
Bethany 
Bethaven 
Bethcar 
Bethel  - 
Bethesda,  pool  of 
Beth-haccerem 
Beth-hanoon 
Beth-hoor 
Beth-horon 
Bethlehem,  view  of 

- well 

- convent 

- church  of  Helena 


■  cave 
Tekoah 


mode  of  salutation  110,  113 


- tents 

Beds,  Eastern 
Bedundah 
Beer,  or  Beeroth 
Beer-el-abd 
Beer-el-Defna 
Beer-el-Luban  - 
Beggars 

Bejepee,  village  ot 
Belus,  river,  or  Schor  Libnah 


112 

66 
268 
203,  204 
82, 

210 
208  Beyrout 
449,  470 
467 


Bethpeor,  Mount 
Bethpage 
Bethsaida 
Bet-Iba 

Bet-Iksa,  or  Sechu 
Betima  - 
Bet-Immer 
Bet-Jalah,  ancient  Zelah 
Bet- Jan 
Bet-Jibrim 
Bet-Ouzin,  a  village 
Bet-unia 


114 
110 
114 
204 
223 
178 
200 

158,  194,  196,  197 
204 
114 
204,  206 
162 
150,  185 
106 
200 
201 
175,  185 

185 

186 
186 
187 
187 
144 
196 
287 
218 
202 
111 
178 
175 
281 
114 
213 
201 


239,  251,  319 


Benjamin,  tribe  of 
Bennishail  village 
Bergamo,  or  Bergamos 
Berlin 

- Jews  in 

- - state  of  religion  in  504,  510 

- new  school  synagogue  505 

- churches  -  506 — 7 


311 

203 

98 

336 

502 

502 


Sabbath  schools  239 

Jews  in  -  -  242,  527 

Roman  remains  242 


Beyukdere 

Bezetha 

Birket-el-Gish 

Birlat 

- Jews  in 


Berothah 

Berun 

Bessarabia 


Sabbath  desecration 
Jewish  school  - 
university 
normal  seminary 
missionary  institution 


507 

507 

509 

510 

511 
241 
481 
368 


Black  Sea 
Blanco,  Cape 
Bochnia 
Boitzemburg 
Bosphorus,  the 
Bossanze,  quarantine  station 
Botouchany 
- Jews  in 


Bouja,  in  Smyrna 
Boulogne 
- —  interview  with  a  Jew 


353,  355 
136 
271 

401 

402 
366 

261,  316 
.  470 


511 

353 
424 
420 
*  420 

327,  329 

3 

4 


INDEX, 


545 


Boulogne,  Jews  in  5 

Bourka  -  223 

Bourkeen  -  -  226 

Bourlos,  Lake,  ancient  Buteo  62 
Bournabat  -  -  344 

Boussa  -  315 

Boyards  of  Moldavia  -  372 

-  of  Wallachia  -  386 

Brashovanca,  a  -  377,  380 

Breslau  -  -  -  483 — 485 

- Jews  in  -  484 

- university  -  484 

• - schools  -  484 

- synagogue  -  485 

Brieg  -  -  -  482 

Briers  and  thorns,  fields  of  117,  119 

Brody  -  -  -  450, 459 

-  Jews  in  -  452 

-  synagogue  -  453 

Brousa,  Jews  in  -  353 

Bucharest,  -  380,  384, 397 

- capital  of  Wallachia  353 

- synagogue  -  384 

-  khan  -  385 

- population  -  386 

- Jews  in  380,  388,  397 

390,  391 

392,  395 

281 
427 
398 


Chalcedon 
Chalons-sur-Saone 
Chamforeh,  village  of 
Chasidim,  the  - 
Chatillon-sur-Seine 
Cheesemongers,  valley  of 
Chephira  or  Kephorieh 
Children,  mode  of  car-  ) 
rying,  in  the  East  $ 

Chios,  now  Scio 
Chorazin 

Chrysopolis,  now  Scutari 
Cipporah,  ceremony  of  the  404,  436 
Circumcision,  a  proces-  * 
sion  on  occasion  of 
Citium,  now  Larnica 
Civita  Vecchia 

Popery  in 


358 
11 
310 
443,  445 
9 
152 
200 

48 

326 

287 

257 


Cloud,  effect  of,  on  heat  ? 
of  the  sun  $ 

- pillar  of 

-  shadow  of 


59 

324 
19,  33 
33,  34 

76 


• - as  a  mission¬ 

ary  station 

■  interview  with 


Rabbi 
Bukeah,  village 
Bukovine 
Buseo,  village 


Ccele-Syria 
Cafreen 

Caglione,  Kalione 
Cairo,  Jews  in 
Calvary 
Camel,  the  mode  of  loading 

- difference  betwixt,  ' 

and  dromedary 
Cana,  or  Kefr  Kenna 
Capernaum 
Caphtorims 
Caravansera,  a  - 
Caria,  coast  of  - 
Carlscrona,  Jews  in 
Carmel,  Mount  229 
Carmel  in  Judah 
Carpathian  Sea  and  Hills 
Casius,  Mount  - 
Catieh,  ancient  Casium 
Cedars  - 

Centum  Cellae,  now  Ci-  ) 
vita  Vecchia,  $ 

Cevigo,  ancient  Cythera 


Cnidos  - 

Coins,  value  of  Eastern 
Colosse,  now  Konas 
Constantinople 

- Stamboul 

- Golden  Horn 

- Galata  - 

- dervishes 

- Jews  in 

- as  a  missionary  station 

- Beyukdere 

- Ortakoy 

- Armenians 

- pillar 

-  bazaar  - 

- Scutari  - 

- school  in 


88 

282 

325 

524 

339 

348 

348 

349 
349 

350,  357 
351 


-  synagogue 

- missionary’s  quali¬ 
fications 

Coos,  now  Stanchio 
Copenhagen,  Jews  in 
Copockinsky 

- Jews  in 

Corax,  Mount  - 
Corfu,  Jews  in 
Counsel,  Hill  of  Evil 
Cracow  * 

- Jews  in 

— -  importance  of,  as 


351 

353 

354 

355 
357 
357 
357 
360 

360,  361 

365 


325 
515 
440 
440 
239 
18,  525 
150 
471,  480 
476 

480 

44 


a  missionary  station 
Crete 

°  j”™'in  araUe  \  s30'  363’  515 

48 


546 


INDEX. 


Cucumber  garden,  lodge  in  63 
Cyprus  -  -  -  324 

Czernowitz  -  -  134 

- Jews  in  -  -  431 


Dabourieh,  village  of 
Dacia,  country  of 

- language  of 

Dactyle  - 
Dair 
Dalee 

Damascus,  Jews  of 

• - —  importance  of,  as  a 

missionary  station 
Damietta 
Damour 

Damoun,  village  of 
Dan,  tribe  of  - 
Danube,  the  River 
Dardanelles  or  the  ) 
Hellespont  $ 

Dead  Sea 
Deeb  W ady 
Deer  Emat 
Deir-esnait 
Deir-Eyub 
Deir-maheysen 
Delos 

Denmark,  Jews  in 
Derbe 

Dervishes,  the  Dancing 
-  the  Howling 


299,  303 
370 
382 
340 
100 
227 

526 

527 

65,  70 
253 
310 
106,  114 

368 

347,  348 
195 

208,  266 
108 
108 
119 
118 
42 
515 
339 
350 

357 

Desert,  the  -  °  76,  78,  86 

- preparation  for  jour-  > 

ney  through  the  $  DU 

Dhura  ... 

Dia  ... 

Dijon  ... 

- Jews  in 

• - interview  with  two  Jews 

Dim  r eh *  * 

Dinner,  customs  at  Eastern 
Dipsis  ... 

Dogs,  Eastern  -  -  48,  355 

Dor  •  -  228 

Dover  ...  2 

Doves,  Valley  of  -  288 

Doulis  -  -  -  111,  113 

Drawing  water,  mode  of  111 

Dromedary,  the  -  93 


Druses 
Duadahr 

Eastern 

customs 


-  240,248 
80 

50,  51,  52,  59,  60,  61 
64,66,67,  69, 104,  111 


Eastern  marriage 
Ebal,  Mount 
Egypt  - 

fulfilment  of  prophe¬ 


cy  as  to 
Elah,  valley  of 
El-Arish 
Elaphonesia 
Elba 

El-betune 
El-Capri 
Eleutheropolis 
El-Geib  or  Gibeon 
El-halil  or  Hebron 
El-Hamsin 
Elijah,  convent  of 
El-Kustul 
El-mohrazin 

El-Tos,  The  Cup,  a  valley 
Emmaus 

Emineh  Bourun,  Cape 
Endor 
En-Rogel 

Ephesus,  Church  of 
Ephraim,  Hills  of 
Ephrath 
Erd-Safeen 

Eruv,  the  283,  40 

Eshcol,  valley  of 
Esdraelon,  plain  of 
Eshtaol  - 

Eski-hissar,  or  Laodicea 
Etham  - 
Euboea  - 

Falconero  -  39 

Fan,  the  -  -  308 

Fair  Havens,  the  -  44 

Fatria,  villages  of  -  310 

Ferrara,  Jews  in  -  19 

Fig-trees  -  -  108,  197 

Fisherman’s  Net  -  63,  294 

Five  Mountains,  the  -  368 

Florence,  Jews  in  -  19 

profligacy  of  22 
Folds  for  flocks  -  109,112 

Foxshany,  town  of  -  398 

Jews  in  -  399 

day  of  repentance  399 
France  -  -  -  3 — io 


56.  57 
209 
47,  54 

51,  61 

124,  198 
86,  93 
29 
32 
114 
315 
114 
201 
179 
315 
175 
124 
116 
184 
200 
367 
303 
152 
336 
206 
175 
114 
434,  440 
107 
225,  297 
114 
338 
177 
42 


efforts  necessary  for 


Jews  in 

Frank  Mountain  ^ 
Frankfort  on  the  Oder 
Fraustadt 


115,  147,  308,  Ji^Gaash 


31 

150 

502 

494 

207 


INDEX. 


547 


Gaba  or  Gibbethon 
Gabatieh,  village  of 
Gadarenes,  country  of 
Galatz 


gipsies 
Jews  in  - 


223 
225 
292 

-  369—374 
373 

_  -  371,  374 

Galilee,  Lake  of  274,  275,  293,  294 

- mission  to  -  284 

- villages  of  -  148 

Galley-slaves  -  16,  24, 464 

Gallipoli  -  -  348 

Gateway,  seat  of  judgment  91 

- remarkable  -  270,  280 

Gaza,  road  to  -  -  96,  100 

- environs  of  -  101 

-  country  -  -  102,  104 

Gazelles  -  -  296 

Geeb  -  206 

Gennesareth,  plain  of  276,  286 
Genoa,  bay  and  town  of  16,  20 

-  Jews  in  -  18 

-  Popery  -  -  20 

Gerar,  valley  of  -  94 

Gerizim  -  -  210 

Gertsman,  village  of  -  433 

Gethsemane  -  142,  161,  194 

Gibeah  *•  200 

Gibeon  or  El-Geeb  -  201,  202 

Gibbethon  -  -  224 

Gibraltar,  Jews  in  -  19,  243 


a  good  missionary  j  243 


station 
Gihon,  valley  and  £ 
pools  ) 

Gilboa 
Gimzo  - 
Ginoea  - 

Gipsies  in  Moldavia  ? 

and  Wallachia  $ 
Gischala  or  Gish 

- plain  of 

Gleiwitz 
Glogau  - 
- Jews  in 


133,  134,  150 

276 

117 

■  225 

370,  372,  373 

271 

272 
482 

498,  500 
498 


Goats 
Gob 

Gomatter 
Gorgona 

Gottenburg,  Jewrs  in 
Gozo 

Grasshoppers 
Greece,  coast  of 
- prospects  of  mission¬ 
aries  in 

Greek  Priests  of  Moldavia 
Greek  Priests  of  Wallachia 


82 
206 
78 
32 
515 
34 
113 
38,  39 

342 

372 
387 


Greek  Church,  su-  >  344  m  394 
perstition  m  $  ’  ’ 

Grudak,  village  of  -  467 

Grunberg  -  -  502 

Gulonitsky,  village  of  -  441 

Habad,  a  sect  of  Chasidim  412 

Hadad-rimmon  -  226 

Hartsmi,  Polish  -  434,  459 

Hamburg,  appearance  of  512 

- population  of  512 

its  character  512 

as  a  missionary  field  516 

516 

517 


Jews  in 
synagogue 


Hffimus,  range  of 
Hamah 
Hamath  in  Galilee 
Ilandmills 
Hasur  - 
Hatta  - 

Hebrew  language,  advan¬ 
tage  of  grammatical 
knowledge  of 
Hebron,  road  to 

-  valley  of  - 

-  town  of 

- mosque  of 

-  Joseph’s  tomb 

-  Wady  Nazar  ah 

-  pool  of 

-  tomb  of  Otlmiel 

-  Jews  in  148, 


367 
241 
295 
71,  104 
115 
114 

445 


synagogue 
Abraham’s  Oak 


Hellespont  or  Dardanelles 
Hermon,  Mount,  or  Jebel  i 
Sheikh  \ 

Hermon,  Little 
Hermon  beyond  Jordan 
Hermopolis 
Hierapolis 
Hieres,  Isle  of 


174,  175 
178 
178,  184 
180 
181 
181 
182 
182 
184,  246,  247 

183 

184 
347 


229 

276 
289,  296 
40 
388 
16 

Hinnom,  valley  of  -  133,  151 

Hith,  Jews  of  -  -  530 

Holland,  Jews  in  -  495 

Holy  Land.  See  Palestine. 

’  '  -  139 

89,  147,  192,  274 
297 
285 
117 
159 

-  276,296 
39 

-  156,316 


Holy  Sepulchre 

Houses,  Eastern 

Hukkok,  Wady 
Hulda 

tomb  of 


Iluttin,  plain  of 
Hydra 
Hymns  - 


548 


INDEX. 


Ibraila  * 

376,  380 

Jerusalem,  Sabbath  in 

137,  188 

■ - town 

377 

- climate  - 

138 

- ornamental  cross 

377 

- - sepulchre 

129 

- river  Seret 

376 

- Calvary,  mourners 

141 

- - Jews  in  - 

378—380 

- Mount  of  Olives 

141 

Icarian  Sea  <■ 

326 

- Gethsemane 

142 

Iconium-Konieh 

339 

- Absalom’s  monument 

146 

Ida  wells 

326 

- paupers  in 

148 

Igzim,  village  of 

228 

- valley  of  Gihon 

150 

I m bros  - 

346 

- Aceldama 

151 

Inkhorn,  writer’s 

92 

- Castle  of  David 

190 

Isbirta 

339 

- Temple  wall 

191 

Ionia,  shores  of 

326 

Jettar,  village  of 

267 

Iscanderoon 

316 

Jews.  See  under  various  towns. 

Ismerieh 

315 

Jewish  Burying-ground — ■' 

Ismid,  Jews  in  - 

353 

at  Alexandria 

52 

Issachar,  tribe  of 

227 

at  Brody 

455 

Ister-river 

370 

at  Gulonitsky 

441 

Italy,  coast  of  - 

16 

at  Jerusalem 

156 

- priesthood  of 

22 

at  Khanounes 

98 

- Jews  in 

18,  19 

at  Leghorn 

28 

- —  efforts  necessa- } 

at  Tarnapol 

441, 

447 

ry  for 

$ 

Jewish  Ceremonies 

379 

Day  of  Atonement 

405 

Jacob’s  well 

212 

Circumcision 

59 

Jaffa,  Jews  in 

48 

Funeral 

465 

Jaglinsky,  village 

434,  439 

Last  day  of  the  feast, 

436, 

443 

- church 

435 

Marriage 

416 

- Jews 

436 

New  Year’s  Day  - 

388 

Janesherry,  or  Sigeum 

347 

Procession  of  the  Law  438, 442 

Jaroslaw 

468 

Day  of  Repentance 

399 

Jassy 

406,  419 

Jewish  Infirmary 

454 

- Day  of  Atonement 

406 

Jewish  Reading-Rooms — 

- Jews  in 

407,  409 

at  Hebron  - 

183 

- schools 

410 

at  Jerusalem 

193 

-  synagogues 

408,  410 

at  Saphet 

278 

Jebel  Gaba  Hill 

223 

Jewish  Sabbath 

278 

Jehoshaphat,  valley  \  141, 

150,  151 

Jewish  Synagogues.  See  under 

of  > 

152,  197 

various  towns. 

Jenin,  Ginoea 

- 

225 

Jewish  Schools — 

Jenvsus,  now  Khanounes 

96,  98 

none  at  Jerusalem 

131 

Jeplithah-el,  valley  of 

- 

267 

at  Leghorn 

26 

Jeremiah’s  cave 

- 

136 

at  Smyrna 

332 

Jerusalem,  approach  to 

- 

126 

at  Berlin 

507 

- feelings  on  seeing  126 — 129 

at  Constantinople  - 

360 

■ - town  of  - 

- 

127,  198 

at  Cracow  - 

477 

- Olives  Mount 

- 

129,  141 

at  Jassy 

413 

■ - Jews  in  148,  130, 

132,  163 

missionary  school  at  < 

488 

- synagogues  in 

- 

192 

Posen  1 

- Hebrew  church 

- 

129 

at  Schlichtingsheim 

496 

- Tomb  of  David 

- 

132 

at  Storchnest 

493 

• - barley  field 

- 

133 

Jezreel,  plain  of 

225, 

298 

- valley  of  Hinnom 

134 

-  village,  now  Zerin 

303 

- valley  of  Gihon 

- 

134 

Jibbah,  village  of 

268 

- Mount  Zion 

133 

-  town  of 

303 

- extent  of 

- 

136,Jimso 

117 

INDEX. 


549 


Jordan  - 
Job,  well  of 

- valley  of  - 

Joseph’s  tomb  - 
Jotapata 

Judah,  plains  of  - 

• - -  hills  of  - 

Judaism,  similarity 
to  Popery 
Jurmah,  village  of 
- Jews  in 


*  195, 289 
163 
361 

-  181,213 

286 

113 

118 

424,  530,  532 

-  280,  281 

281 


Kadikoy.  See  Chalcedon.  358 

Kadyta  -  -  -  271,274 

Kaipha,  Jews  in  -  148 

Kalacria,  Cape  •  -  367 

Kalione,  Caglione  -  125 

Kana  el  Jelil  -  -  307 

Kanah,  brook  -  -  223 

- town  -  -  266 

Kangfud,  the,  or  porcupine  54,  138 
Karaite  Jews  247,  330,  360,  361 

- works  of  -  363 

- in  Russia  -  514 

-  synagogue  -  361 

Karatieh  -  -  114 

Karieh  -  122 

Kareimisky  Neustadt,  Jews  in  514 
Kasteen,  village  of  -  115 

Kasimieh,  or  Leontes  -  258 

Kavarna,  bay  -  -  368 

Kedron,  brook  -  -  142,  162 

- vale  of  -  -  150 

Kefr-birhom  -  -  269 

Kefr  or  Cana,  Kenna  -  307 

Kehelatah  -  81 

Kelundieh  -  -  200 

Kephoneh  -  -  200 

Kerak,  or  Tarichaea  -  276 

Keys,  in  the  East  -  112 

Khaifa  -  -  -  237 

- synagogue  -  237 

Khan,  a  -  385, 469 

Khan-el-luban  -  -  208 

Khanounes,  or  Jenysus  96 — 98 

Kings,  tombs  of  -  160 

Kiijath-jearim  -  -  122 

Kirjath-Sepher  -  177 

Kobylin,  Jews  in  -  494 

Konas  -  339 

Konieh,  or  Iconium  -  339' 

Krotosheim,  Jews  in  -  494 

Kuryet-el-Enab  -  122 

Kulat  Jedin  -  -  315 

Kydessa  *  -  271 


Lachish 

115 

Lampsacus 

348 

Landshut 

468 

Laodicea 

338 

Larnica 

324 

Laskovola,  village  of  - 

467 

Latroon,  village  and  pass  of  119 

Lazarus’s  tomb 

158 

Leban-hemat 

110 

Lebanon 

240,  241 

-  cedars  of 

241 

-  wine  of 

232 

- villages  of 

241 

Lebonah 

208 

Lectum,  Cape  Baba 

346 

Leghorn,  sail  to 

15,  16 

- town  of  - 

20 

- Jews  in  - 

18,24 

- English  cemetery 

21 

Popery  of 

22 

synagogue 

24 

- Jewish  library  - 

26 

— - - school  - 

26 

interview  with  rabbis  26,  27 

instruction  in  Israel-  ? 

itish  University 

Lemberg 

463—467 

- Jews  in  - 

466 

Lemnos  ■> 

346 

Leontes 

258 

Lepers  - 

214 

Lesbos,  now  Mytilin 

344 

Lessen  ... 

346 

Libnah  ... 

115 

Lifta,  village  of 

200 

Lipuwanni 

378 

Lissa 

486,  494 

Liturgy  - 

335 

Lodge,  the 

63 

Luban  ... 

208 

Lubiah,  village  of 

297 

Lucca,  Jews  in 

19 

Ludwigslust 

511 

Lyons  ... 

11,  12 

- Jews  in 

12 

Lystra  - 

339 

Macon  - 

11 

Machpelah,  cave  of 

180 

Maesia  ... 

367 

Magdala 

288 

Magnesia 

340 

Malea  ... 

39 

Malta,  appearance  of  - 

35,  37 

- state  of  morals  in 

36 

48* 

550 


INDEX. 


Malta,  Popery  in 

-  Jews  in 

Mamre,  plain  of 
Manasseh,  half  tribe  01 
Mareotic  Lake  - 
Mareshah 


Marmora,  Sea  of,  or  Propontis  348 


Marona 

Marriage,  an  Eastern 

- Jewish,  at  Jass 

- - —  at  Jaglinsky 

Marseilles,  town  of 

- Jews  in 

Marshuk  Hill 
Maruba,  Wady  - 
Matalish 
Matapan,  Cape  Taenaru 
Maturieh 

Mediterranean  shore 

Hymn  on 


Meles,  river 
Melos 

Menaghee,  village  of 
Menzaleh,  Lake,  or  Mendes 
Merj-Ibrama 
Mesmieh,  village  of 
Mestrael  wind  - 
Mezra 

Mezra  in  Syria  - 
Mezuzah,  description  of 
Michmash 
Migdol  - 
Mijdel,  village  of 
Mi  an,  Jews  in  - 
Millstone 
Mirage,  the 
Misrach  - 
Mizpeh  - 
Moab,  hills  of  - 
Modena,  Jews  in 
Modin  - 
Moes 

Moldavia,  religion  of 

- its  importance  as  a  > 

scene  of  a  Jewish  mission  $ 
number  of  Jews  in 


36 

36 

179 

224 

54 

115 


280,  281 
56 
416 
434 
15 
15 
317 
116 

223 

38 
71 

316 

316 

340 

39 
76 
70 

224 
115 

14 

315 

206 

456 

200 

80 

287—288 
19 
110 
54 
469 
144 
182,  195 
19 


Music,  no  instrument 
of,  in  Palestine 
Mustard-tree 
Mycone 

Mytilin.  See  Lesbos 

Nabka,  the  plant 
Nablous,  Jews  in 
valley  of 


Montefiore,  Sir  Moses 
Montlimart 
Montreuil 
Moriah,  Mount  - 
Moschiska,  village  of 

- -  Jews  in 

Mourners,  wailing  of,  in  ) 
Jerusalem  ) 

Muezzin,  the 


122 

71 
371 
243 
424 
424 
142 
13 
6 

144,  145 
467 
467 

128,  141 

59,  86 


Naby-Samuel,  or  Ramai 
Naby-Younes 
Nabbok-tree 
Nacoush,  Jews  in 
Nain,  village  of 
Nakoura 
Naphtali,  tribe  of 
- mountains  of 


118,  418 

138 
42 
346 

109 
148 
218 
143,  199 
253 
94 
404 
300,  303 
219,  315 
268 
271,280 
prophecy  regarding  285 
“  T  515 

42 
181 
305 
305,  306 

305 

306 
144 
152 
175 

63 
501 
116 
19 
52 
52 
55 
56,  58 
58 
57 
71 
77 
65 
62 
71 


Narkoping,  Jews  in 
Naxos  - 
Nazarah,  wady  of 
Nazareth,  vale  of 

- town  of 

-  bazaar 

convent 


Nebo,  Mount 
Nehemiah’s  well 
Nephtoah,  fountain  of 
Nets 
Neusaltz 
Nezib 

Nice,  Jews  in 
Nile,  fulfilment  of  prophecy 
reeds  of 
Canopic  branch 
waters  of  - 
banks  of 
Bolbotine  branch 
Mendesian  do. 

Pelusiac  do. 

Phatnitic  or  Bucoli 
Sebennetic  do. 

Tanitic  or  Saitic  do 


Obeleshti,  village  of 
Odyssus,  now  Varna 
Offence,  Mount  of 
Ohlau 
Olearos  - 
Olives,  grove  of 
Mount  of 


Olive-press 
Omar,  Mosque  of 
Omeglia 
Ophel 


14 


do. 


384 

367 

152 

482 

42 

106  225 
157  160 
269 
145 
16 
152 


INDEX. 


551 


Oppeln  - 
Ortakoy,  schools  in 

-  Jews  in 

-  village  of 

Ostracine 

Oudsir 

Oven,  an  Arab  - 


482 

352 

353 

354 
85 

114 

90 

19 


Padua,  Jews  in  - 
Palestine — 

Difficulties  in  the  conver¬ 
sion  of  Jews  in 
State  of  Jews  in 
Importance  of,  as  a  ? 

missionary  field  $ 

Means  for  sending  gospel  to  246 
Population,  different  ac- 1  1/1Q 

counts  of  ) 

Number  and  condi-  ?  148,  164 

tion  of  Jews  in  $  173 

Missionaries  to  193,  248,  321 


Means  of  support 

in,  for  ) 

246 

Jews 

Palm-tree 

53 

- few  in  Palestine 

99 

Palmosa  or  Patmos 

326 

Palus  Cendovia 

311 

Pamphylia,  coast  of 

325 

Paris,  road  to 

5 

-  appearance  of 

5—8 

-  Jews  in 

8 

-  Sabbath  in 

7 

Parma,  Jews  in 

19 

Paros 

42 

Paths,  places  of  - 
Patmos,  now  Palmosa 
Pavia,  Jews  in  - 
Pergamos,  now  Bergamo 

-  Jews  in 

Perleberg 
Petra 

Philadelphia 
Philistia 

Philistines,  coast  of 
Piedmont,  Jews  in 
Pilsno 

Pisa,  Jews  in 
Pisgah  - 
Pilesti,  Jews  in  - 
Pleschen,  Jews  in 
Plough,  Eastern 
Podgorze 
Poland,  Austrian 

- Prussian,  as  field  of 

missionary  labour 


Polish  superstition 
Polycarp’s  grave 
Popeiy  in  Boulogne 
in  Breslau 
in  Brody 
in  Civita  Vecchia 
in  Cracow 
in  Genoa 
in  Jagl  insky 
in  Leghorn 
in  Malta 
in  Paris 
in  Poland 
in  Posen 
in  Rosetta 
in  Syra 
in  Smyrna 
in  Tarnapol 
similarity  with  £ 
Judaism 

Porcupine  or  kangfud 
Post-cart,  Wallachian 
Posen  as  a  missionary  \ 
station 

- Jews  in 

schools 


1 


1 


Potkamin,  village  of 
Jews  in  - 


Potchoritz 
Prausnitz 

Jews  in 


55,  96 
42,  326 
19 
336 

336 
511 
138 

337 
103 
103 

19 
469 
19 
144 
380 
494 
60,  298 
471 
427 

499 

500 


Precipitation,  Mount  of 
Premyslau 

Jews  in  - 


Propontis 
Protestants  in  Boulogne 
in  Chalons 
in  Cracow 
in  Dijon 
in  Leghorn 
in  Lyons 
in  Marseilles 
in  Paris 
in  Posen 

Provence 

Prussia,  Sabbath  schools  > 
not  allowed  in  $ 

nor  prayer  meetings 
Prussian  Schnell-post  - 
School 

Teachers,  mode  of 


435 

343 

3 

484 
457 

34 
476 
17,  20 
435 
22,  23 
36 
7 

435,  448 
486 
56 
42 
328 

448 
424,  530 

532 
54,  138 
376 

242,  486 

486,  487 

487,  489 

449 

450 
459 

485 

485 
306 
462 
462 
348 

3 

11 

297 

9 

21 

12 

15 

7 

486 
13 


licensing 

- villages,  charac-  i 

ter  of  ) 


Pruth,  the 
Ptolemais. 


See  Acre. 


510 

510 

481 

484 

492 

485 
432 


552 

INDEX. 

Quarantine  at  Carmel 

m 

230 1  Sabbath — 

• - at  Galatz 

- 

369 

in  Bucharest 

385 

- at  Bossanze 

424 

at  Carmel 

-  230,233 

Quern  or  handmill 

• 

71 

in  Constantinople  -  364 

in  Cracow  - 

472 

Rachel’s  Sepulchre 

175 

in  the  Desert 

78 

Ram 

200 

French 

6,  7 

Ramah  - 

143,  199 

in  Galatz 

371 

Ramah  of  the  south 

99 

in  Hamburg 

516 

Ramallah 

200 

in  Jaglinsky 

434 

Ramath-lehi 

103 

in  Jerusalem 

-  137,  188 

Ramea 

218,  269 

sacrament  188 

Ram  la  - 

124 

in  Leghorn 

23 

Ramouni,  perhaps  Hadad 

i  99ft 

in  Palestine 

94 

Rimmon 

in  Paris 

7 

Rapha 

- 

96 

in  Posen 

488 

Raphat,  ancient  Raphia 

203 

in  Saphet  - 

282 

Ras-el-am 

317 

at  Sea 

34,  44,  346 

Raujeeb 

209 

in  Smyrna  - 

328 

Rawitz  - 

486 

near  Soutchava 

424 

Reineh,  village  of 

307 

in  Zopka 

461 

Rhasteum 

347 

Saccas,  village  of 

-  272,274 

Reading  places,  or  £ 

1£Q  TOQ 

Saffeen 

115 

Yishvioth  S 

IDO*  iJo 

Salmone,  now  Sidro 

44 

Reeds,  disappearance  of  ? 

Kf) 

Saloniki.  See  Thessalonica  332 

in  Egypt 

* 

Samaria 

223 

Repentance,  day  of 

399 

- road  from  Sychar  to  218 

Rephaim,  plain  of  135, 

150,  174 

-  hill  of  - 

218 

Rhinocolura 

86 

-  ruins  of 

219 

Rhone,  scenery  on 

12 

-  natural  scenery  222 

-  Island  at  mouth 

of  14 

-  mountains  of 

223 

Rhodes 

325 

Samaritan  villages 

209 

• - Jews  in 

325 

-  synagogue 

215 

Rice  Mill 

58 

Samos  - 

326 

Rissa,  El  Arish 

81 

Samothrace 

346 

Rimnik,  village 

398 

Samson’s  hill 

102 

River  of  Egypt 

90 

San,  or  Zoan 

72 

Rome,  Jews  in 

19 

Sandovawiznia,  Jews 

in  467 

Ropsitza,  village  of 

469 

Sannin,  hill  of  - 

241 

- Jews  in 

469 

Sanour  Castle  - 

224 

Rosetta  - 

55—60 

Saone 

11 

-  journey  to 

54 

Saphet  - 

-  272—285 

-  convent 

56 

Tpw,  in  5 

143,  148,  164 

-  rice-mill 

58 

Jews  in  < 

246,  247,  322 

-  bazaar 

58 

- synagogue  worship  278 

-  Jews  in 

57 

- a  missionary  ? 

9fi4  g?9 

Ruesh,  village  of 

310 

station  $ 

Russia,  Jews  in 

513,  514 

Sardis  or  Sart  - 

338 

• - as  a  missionary 

field  514 

Sarepta  or  Sarfend 

-  257,  318 

Rzezow  - 

468 

Saretsky,  village  of 

449 

Sabbath — 

Sarfend,  ancient  Zarepta  318 

at  Balteen  - 

63 

Sassow,  village  of 

459 

in  Berlin 

506,  507 

- Jews  of 

459 

in  Beyrout  - 

250,  319 

Sawee  - 

208 

in  Birlat 

401 

Scamander 

347 

in  Bouja 

328 

Satagora,  town  of 

431 

INDEX. 


553 


Schlichtingsheim 
Schools — 

at  Breslau  - 
at  Constantinople 
at  Cracow  - 
at  Damietta 
Arab,  at  El  Arish 
at  Jassy 

none  in  Jerusalem 
in  Leghorn 
in  Lyons 
in  Marseilles 
in  Paris 
in  Posen 

at  Schlichtingsheim 
Jewish,  at  Smyrna 
at  Storchnest 
at  Syra 

Sabbath,  not  allowed  | 


496 

484 
360 
477 
70 
91 

410,  413 
131 
19, 26 
12 
15 
7 

488,  489,  490 
327 
327 
493 
40 

510 


Sidro,  or  Salmone 
Sigeum,  now  Jenesherry 
Sihor 

Sihor-Libnah 
Silesia,  province  of 

— - Jews  in  - 

Siloam,  fountain  of 

hymn  on 


153, 


village  and  pool 


in  Prussia 

Scio,  ancient  Chios  -  '  326 

Scopus,  hill  -  -  136 

Scutari,  Jews  in  -  353,  357 

Sechu  -  -  -  200 

Sedeekin,  village  of  -  266 

Seir,  Hills  of  82 

Sedekoy  -  -  340 

Senana,  village  of  -  65 

Sephardim  246,  278,  282,  291 
Sephela,  plain  of  -  l] 4 

Sephourieh  or  Sepphoris  307,  309 

Seret,  river  -  -  400 

-  town  of  -  -  429 

-  Jews  in  -  429 

- conversation  with  430 

Seriphos  -  39 

Servants,  Eastern  -  68 

Sestos  ...  347 

Sharon  -  -  -  122, 201 

Shdood  -  104 

Sheep,  Eastern  82,  104,  174 

Sheikh  Daud  -  -  315 

- Juide  -  94 

Shiloh  207 

Shimron-meron  -  281 

Shitta-tree  and  Shittim-wood  79 
Shittim,  valley  of 
Shulau  - 
Sliunem,  or  Solam 
Shur,  desert  of  - 

Sicdy,  c.istant  view  of 
Sid 

Sidon,  approach  to 
-  town  of 


Simeon,  tribe  of 
Singeel,  village  of 
Sipheer,  village  of 
Sipylus,  Mount  - 
Sirah,  well  of 
Sirbonian  Lake  - 
Sirocco 

Slobodzi,  village  of 
Smyrna 

-  a  missionary  station 

- Jews 

-  school 


cypresses 


Solam,  ancient  Shunem 
Solomon’s  Pools 
Sorek,  valley  of 
Soutchava,  town  of 
Jews  in 


synagogue 
Jews  in 


175,  195 
519 
303 
80 
34 
71 

253, 318 
254,  256 
254 
148,  255 


Spandau 
Spezzia  - 

Stanchio,  ancient  Coos 
St.  Denys 
St.  Julian 
Storchnest 
Stockholm,  Jews  in 
Subuste,  village  of 
Sweden,  Jews  in 
Sycamore-trees 
Sychar,  valley  of 

-  town  of 

-  synagogues 

-  Jacob’s  Well 

- Joseph’s  Tomb 

-  lepers 

-  bazaar  - 

- Jews  and  Samaritans 

-  Jews  in  - 

a  Jew  boy 


44 
347 
58 
311 
481 
485 
156 
156 
197 
93 
207 

177 

339 

178 
83 
97 

383 
327,  345 
334 
330,  336 
334 

340 
303 

176,  317 
107 

427 

428 
511 

39 

325 

6 

37 

493 

515 

219 

515 

99 

209 

211 

211,215 

212 


213 

214 

214 

215 

216 
217 
367 


Symplegades 

Synagogues.  See  under  va¬ 
rious  towns. 

Synagogue,  ancient  remains  of  270 

Syra  (Scyros)  -  -  39 — 42 

- schools  in  -  -  41 

Syrophenicia  -  -  258 


Taberiah 


290 


554 


INDEX. 


Tabor  276,  297,  298,  300—303 


Tallith,  description  of 
Tamarisk 
Tamyras,  river  - 
Tantour  or  Horn 
Tahpanhes 
Tarnapol 

- synagogues 

- Jews  in 

Popery 


Tarichaea 
Tarnow 

Tarsus  -  339 

Taoutchy,  village  of  -  400 

Tata-Maresti  -  *  404 

Tekoah  -  -  187 

Tel-Faramah,  ruins  of  -  82 

Temple-wall  of  Jerusalem,  old  191 
Tenedos,  island  of  -  346 

Tents  ...  62 

-  of  Kedar  -  -  112 

Tephillin,  description  of  456 

Terebinth-tree  -  -  100 

Tersecha  -  -  315 


Terraces 

Teshawitz,  village  of 


conversation  with  Jews  422 


456 

80 

253 

248 

80 

441—448 
441 
443 
448 
276,  296 
470 


119,  121,  123 

420 


Thrashing-floor 
Thessalonica,  Jews  in 
Thitcrin 

Thorns  and  briers  in 
Palestine 
Thyatira 
Tiberias  -  276,  290, 296 

- Jews  in  143, 148,246, 291,  322 


64,  116 
308,  332 

114 

117,  119 

337 


Hot  baths 


at 


Tiristria 
Tobacco  a  common  plant  in 
Palestine 

Tombs  of  the  Kings 

- of  the  Judges 

- in  the  mosque 

Hebron 

Tomi 

Tortura,  ancient  Dor 
Toulon  - 
Tournou 

Tracts  for  Jews,  their  ) 
importance  $ 

Traenberg,  Jews  in 
Transfiguration,  Mount  of 
Trembowla 

- Jews  in 

Trevoux 

Trees,  few  in  Palestine  - 
Troas,  coast  of 


295 
368 

97 

160 
198 

181 

368 
228 

15 

11 

243,  378 

485 
301 
440 
440 
11 
100 
346 


Troas,  Eski-Stamboul 

347 

Troy,  plain  of  - 

347 

Troyes  - 

9 

Tsitzith  - 

456 

Tultsha  --- 

369 

Turin,  Jews  in  - 

19 

Turkey,  depopulation  of 

339 

influence  of  priesthood  342 

Turkish  coins  - 

524 

Turmus  Aya 

207 

Tuscany,  Jews  in 

18,  24 

- opposition  to  > 

the  truth  in  $ 

23,  31 

Tyre,  now  Sour 

238,  259 

-  town  of 

260 

Jews  in  -  148,  164, 263 

-  harbour 

260 

-  Synagogue 

263 

-  Old 

317 

Tyropceon 

152 

Upper  room 

137,  189 

Valence 

13 

Valetta,  harbour  and  town 

35,  37 

Varna  - 

367 

Verona,  Jews  in 

19 

Venice,  Jews  in 

19 

Veniky,  village  of  / 

463 

Vieliczka 

471 

Vienne  - 

13 

Vines  -  -  107, 

123,  279 

Wallachia,  country 

385 

- religion  of 

371 

-  prevalence  of  crime  387 

- - — •  importance  of,  as  ) 

a  missionary  station 

-  dress  - 

377 

- Jews  in  380,  388,  424 

-  Synagogue  in 

388 

-  Fete  - 

393 

Waslui,  Jews  in 

404,  406 

-  the  Cipporah 

405 

Water,  mode  of )  _ 

drawing  <  115 

— - bitter 

85 

- “  Rivers  of” 

93 

Watering  fields,  mode  of 

96 

Wells  ... 

51,  82 

Wheels,  Egyptian 

51 

- Persian 

98 

Wilna,  Karaite-Jews  in 

514 

Windows,  Eastern 

67 

Women,  Eastern 

48,  89 

-  dress  of 

43,  59 

INDEX. 


555 


Women,  Druse 

-  Moldavia 

Wurtemburg,  Jews 

Xiphos  - 

Yishvioth 
Yoke  for  oxen  - 

Zaanaim,  plain  of 
Zadcow,  village  of 

- Jews  in 

Zalesky,  town  of 

-  Jews  in 

Zalosc,  town  of 

- Jews  in 

Zarnow,  Jews  in 
Zebulun  or  Abilene, 
-  town  of 


248 

374 

in  -  515 

42 

161,  278,  291 
403 

271 

439 

440 

433 

434 
449 
449 
481 

valley  of  310 
310 


Zebulun,  prophecy  regarding  285 
Zeeb.  See  Achzib  -  238,  315 
Zeitoun  -  -  315 

Zelzah  -  -  -  175,  199 

Zenzow,  village  of  -  468 

Zephatha  -  -  Ilf 

Zeworsk,  village  of  -  468 

Zerin,  ancient  Jezreel  -  303 

Zidon  -  -  -  238 

Zingans  -  -  370, 372 

Zion,  Mount  -  -  132,  133 

- importance  of  a  church  on  131 

Zloozow,  village  of  -  460 

- Jews  in  -  460 


Zoan,  or  San,  ruins,  inha* 
bitants 
Zorah  - 
Zopka,  village  of 


72,  78 

114 

461 


thus  emd. 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary- Speer  Library 


1  1012  01119  5049 


date  due 


HIGHSMITH  #45230 


it  H  ? 


